NEW YORK – 10x Genomics said this week it will be allowed to sell its Single Cell CNV solution and Linked-Reads products to new customers while it fights a verdict of patent infringement. However, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied 10x a full stay of an injunction imposed by a lower court, following a jury finding that the firm had infringed patents held by Bio-Rad Laboratories.
10x said it has not yet developed versions of those products based on its Next GEM microfluidic chips, which its says do not infringe Bio-Rad's patents. The injunction prevents 10x from selling its products based on older GEM chips to new customers. 10x is allowed to sell infringing products to its historical installed base, subject to royalties. Sales of the Single-Cell CNV and Linked-Reads products to new customers are also subject to royalties.
Yourgene said this week that it has transferred its quality accreditation process to BSI NL, a notified body in the Netherlands, which will allow the company to continue to sell its systems in the European Economic Area following Brexit. As part of the transfer, Yourgene has received a renewed CE-IVD certificate from BSI NL for the design and manufacture of the Iona noninvasive prenatal test, which will be valid until Jan. 25, 2021. It will also enable the firm to appoint an identified EU-based authorized representative, which Yourgene said will protect it against no-deal Brexit scenarios.
HTG Molecular this week announced the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 29.3 million shares of its common stock price at a public offering price of $.65 per share.
The firm's aggregate gross proceeds were $19 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions, and offering expenses. The gross proceeds included an exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase 3.8 million shares.
The HudsonAlpha Clinical Services Lab said this week it has received recertification from the College of American Pathologists. The lab was established in 2014 and is one of about two dozen clinical labs that provide whole-genome sequencing and analysis.
Danaher this week announced it will redeem all of its $500 million aggregate principal amount of 2.4 percent senior notes due in 2020 and all of its $375 million aggregate principal amount of 5 percent senior notes due in 2020 issued by Pall. The redemption date will be Oct. 24. Danaher said it intends to use part of its cash distribution from the recent initial public offering of its dental business spinoff, Envista, to fund the redemption.
Molecular testing firm LexaGene announced this week that it will offer C$3.5 million to C$10 million ($2.6 million to $7.5 million) in shares of common stock and warrants to purchase shares of common stock. The offering will consist of units of one share and one warrant. The firm has not yet determined the price per unit, the exercise price of the warrant, or the term of the warrant.
LexaGene, which is based in the US but trades on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange, said it will use the proceeds for R&D, marketing, and general corporate purposes, including building inventory and initializing commercial sales.
GenScript said this week that it will provide research support to Harvard University's George Church for his research in the Ultra-Safe Cell project, the first initiative being undertaken by Genome Project-Write and The Center for Excellence in Engineering Biology. The project aims to develop a cell line that is completely resistant to all natural viruses. To engineer the virus-resistant human cell line, the researchers are using a DNA recoding process to alter about 1 percent of the genome. GenScript will provide research support, including DNA synthesis services, for the project.
Personalis has received a new task order under its contract with the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the VA's Million Veteran Program.
Launched in 2011, the MVP is aimed at better understanding how genetic variations affect various aspects of health and longevity. Up to a million veterans are expected to enroll in the study by 2021. Personalis said the new task order is the largest single order the company has received to date and represents a value of up to approximately $38.1 million. According to the company, the cumulative value of task orders received to date under the MVP effort, for which Personalis was first contracted in 2012, is approximately $145 million.
"Given the current backlog of VA MVP samples in-house and the additional samples we may receive under this new task order, we expect that over the next several quarters our VA MVP business will account for a higher proportion of our total revenue than previously expected," Personalis CEO, John West said in a statement.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.