SeqWright Granted California CLIA License; Named Roche NimbleGen Service Provider
Genotyping and genomic sequencing services provider SeqWright has received its clinical laboratory license from the State of California, which allows it to provide its genetic testing services to state residents, the company said this week.
The company does not focus on developing and marketing such tests internally, and so it expects its role to be that of a support lab working with other companies using previously validated assays.
The Houston, Texas-based company also said that it has become an authorized service provider of Roche NimbleGen's sequence capture arrays, which are used to enrich genomic DNA that can be sequenced using Applied Biosystems' SOLiD or the Roche 454 Titanium system for genetic analysis. This service will help the company reduce the time and cost associated with sequencing all coding DNA and custom targeted regions in an individual's genome.
Mount Sinai Services to Offer SQI Diagnostics' RA Tests
SQI Diagnostics this week said that Mount Sinai Services, a Toronto-based services lab, will begin offering SQI's QuantiSpot Rheumatoid Arthritis test system to its customers. Mount Sinai Services' customer base consists of other hospital laboratories, pharmaceutical and medical device companies performing clinical trials, and reference labs, SQI said.
The QuantiSpot RA test, which runs on SQI's SQiDworks automated multiplexing platform, was approved by Health Canada for clinical use last November. QuantiSpot RA kits detects and quantifies four biomarkers associated with rheumatoid arthritis: anti-CCP IgG and Rheumatoid Factor IgG, IgA, and IgM (see BAN 12/2/2008).
SQI CEO Claude Ricks said that the company's relationship with Mount Sinai Services "marks the beginning" of the firm's commercialization process. SQI also filed the SQiDworks platform and the QuantiSpot RA test with the US Food and Drug Administration for 510(k) clearance in October.
Tecan, GE Healthcare Collaborate on Process Development
GE Healthcare and Tecan announced last week that they have agreed to a marketing collaboration under which process developers will be able to implement protocols and accessories for GE Healthcare's PreDictor 96-well plates on Tecan's Freedom EVO workstations.
The firms said that the predefined protocols and scripts for using GE Healthcare's PreDictor 96-well plates are now embedded in the EVOware software that serves as the control for Tecan's Freedom EVO workstations.
"The combination of GE Healthcare's chemistry and Tecan's hardware will provide our customers with a rapid and efficient method of screening process parameters, with minimal hands-on time," Eric Willimann, who is marketing manager of protein science at Tecan, said in a statement.
Further terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.