NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Aria Diagnostics has filed a suit against Sequenom claiming that the firm is overly aggressive in its enforcement of a broad patent related to the use of circulating cell-free DNA in maternal plasma to diagnose fetal aneuploidies. San Jose, Calif.-based Aria has requested a declaratory judgment that a test it is developing to diagnose fetal aneuploidies does not infringe Sequenom's patent. For more on this story, see GenomeWeb Daily News sister publication Clinical Sequencing News.
In a subsequent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Sequenom said that it intends to "vigorously defend against the judicial declaration sought in the complaint."
Nanosphere this week said that it has obtained the CE Mark for its Gram-Positive Blood Culture Nucleic Acid Test. The Northbrook, Ill.-based firm said the test provides genus and species level detection for a broad panel of the most clinically significant gram-positive bacteria and also detects several markers for antibiotic resistance, including the mecA, vanA, and vanB genes. The BC-GP test runs on Nanosphere's Verigene molecular diagnostics system.
BGI said this week that it, along with Inner Mongolia Agricultural University and Inner Mongolia University for the Nationalities, have completed the first sequence of the Mongolian genome. The researchers used a DNA sample from an adult male who belongs to the Mongolian "Royal Family" and is a 34th generation descendant of Genghis Khan. BGI did not disclose when the sequence would be published.
Epitomics announced this week that it has completed a collaboration with the University of California, Davis, which has led to the development of a new label-free optical microarray detection platform for high-throughput measurements of antibody-antigen interactions.
Waters said this week that it has donated one of its Acquity TQD Systems to the University of Buffalo's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences for its research into the treatment of HIV and AIDS-related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa.
In Brief This Week is a Friday column containing news items that our readers may have missed during the week.