Company Announcements

Life Technologies announced in January a multiyear license and supply agreement with Quest Diagnostics, giving Quest the right to develop molecular tests on the Ion Torrent platform.

Illumina entered into a multiyear licensing agreement, giving Quest Diagnostics broad rights to its sequencing and genotyping technology for molecular lab–developed tests in the US and the right to use the equipment for biomarker test services in clinical trials.

Illumina entered into an agreement with Amgen to develop and commercialize a multigene, next generation sequencing (NGS) test as a companion diagnostic for Vectibix (panitumumab), a fully human anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapeutic for the treatment of colorectal cancer. The test will be developed using the MiSeqDx.

Illumina announced in January a strategic road map for market expansion. For reproductive health, the company will submit this year an IVD version of its verifi test to the FDA (see IBO 1/15/14) and will launch an NGS-based VeriSeq preimplantation genetic screening solution and an array-based karyomapping single-gene preimplantation genetic diagnosis solution. In oncology, the firm will support the clinical community with content. In emerging markets, it will launch an NGS-based human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing product this year and will introduce the MiSeq Forensic Genomics System.

In January, Illumina granted LabCorp expanded rights to use of its NGS and microarray equipment and supplies to develop and introduce lab-developed tests in the US and Canada.

Appistry partnered with the NIH’s Undiagnosed Diseases Program to implement a genetic analysis pipeline for patient diagnosis that uses a method of assembling and comparing genomes within a family to identify changes that may be causing diseases.

Product Introductions

In January, CLC bio released a plug-in for Korilog’s KLAST sequence similarity search tool for its CLC Genomics Workbench and CLC Main Workbench.

Illumina launched the high-throughput NextSeq 500 Sequencing System, with push-button operation and a one-day turnaround for applications such as one human genome and up to 16 exomes, up to 20 transcriptomes and up to 96 targeted panels. It can also switch to lower throughput sequencing. The system integrates cluster generation and sequencing. It is priced at $250,000.

Illumina introduced the $10 million HiSeq X Ten Sequencing System, consisting of 10 ultra high-throughput sequencers. Designed for population-scale human whole-genome sequencing, its new patterned flow cells and clustering chemistry deliver six billion clusters per run.

Sapio Sciences released the Exemplar NGS LIMS for tracking multiple NGS platform workflows. It features prebuilt clinical standard workflows.