NEW YORK – 23andMe last week provided additional information on the court-supervised sale of its assets. The company will not accept bids from entities based in or with controlling investments from certain countries, including China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela, out of concern for customer privacy and national security. Bidders will also be required to guarantee that they will comply with the company’s privacy policies and applicable law, and the company is asking bidders for detailed descriptions of their intended use of any purchased customer data.
Syncell said this week that it has launched a network of preferred partners. The Taiwanese company, which offers subcellular protein purification and spatial proteomics analysis using its Microscoop technology, has two new services partners, Omapix and MS Bioworks, and new distribution relationships with Scrum in Japan, DaonBS in South Korea, and Cold Spring Biotech in China. Through Omapix, a spatial biology service provider, and MS Bioworks, which offers mass spec services, customers can get Syncell Microscoop studies from cells or tissues.
BioSkryb Genomics and Ultima Genomics said this week that they are launching a joint grant program to provide cancer researchers with access to their respective technologies at no cost. The firms are offering two awards for multiomic studies, each for up to 1,000 single cells. The studies can be from research areas such as somatic mosaicism and clonal heterogeneity, clonal hematopoiesis and disease precursors, measurable residual disease and drug-resistant cells, and ultralow-input sample analysis like FNA biopsies. BioSkryb, based in Durham, North Carolina, will provide single-cell amplification and library preparation services while Ultima, located in Fremont, California, will perform sequencing services. In addition, the firms will offer special pricing to members of consortia involved in these areas of research. Applications are due June 20, and the winning proposals will be announced July 15.
Genetic Alliance said this week that Galatea Bio has joined the iHope Genetic Health (iGH) program, expanding access to no-cost genomic testing for underserved families around the world. Galatea Bio, based in Miami Lakes, Florida, will provide diagnostic services to children with suspected rare genetic diseases in low- and middle-income communities who lack access to molecular testing. The company plans to enroll millions of participants in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, and other regions that have been underrepresented in large-scale genomic studies to its Galatea Global Biobank (GGB).
Oxford Nanopore Technologies said this week that it has inked separate research partnerships with two institutes under India's Department of BioTechnology (DBT) to establish two new Indian Centers of Excellence (CoE) in genomics in the country. The company entered into an R&D collaboration agreement in rare disease research with the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council-Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (BRIC-CDFD), aiming to deploy nanopore technologies for research, education, and clinical applications.
In addition, it partnered with the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council–National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (BRIC-NIBMG), which agreed to leverage Oxford Nanopore's technology to implement new pipelines and multiomics applications for key public health areas, such as maternal and child healthcare through newborn screening and supporting the study and development of genomic applications in oral cancer. In addition, BRIC-NIBMG will use nanopore sequencing for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance.
Mursla Bio said this week that it has secured US Food and Drug Administration breakthrough device designation for its EvoLiver combination test for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. The test uses an immunoassay to isolate organ-specific extracellular vesicles, followed by an ELISA-type assay to detect surface protein biomarkers and a qPCR test for the detection of miRNA biomarkers. It is intended for the surveillance of cirrhotic patients who are at elevated risk of liver cancer. Breakthrough device designation is used to hasten regulatory processes for devices that could improve the diagnosis or treatment of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions.
Apis Assay Technologies, a Manchester, UK-based molecular diagnostics firm, said this week that it has received a £74,800 ($100,000) extension to its two-year grant from the UK government's Innovation Accelerator program, led by Innovate UK. The original award, made under the Development and Validation of Technology for Time Critical Genomic Technology (DEVOTE) program, was for Apis to design a broad, ethnically inclusive gene panel for detecting a number of pharmacogenetic targets, resulting in the launch of the Apis DPYD qPCR kit. The extension will allow Apis to further develop the DPYD qPCR kit to gain UKCA and IVDR certification, including the development of cloud-based software to integrate assay results into National Health Service laboratory systems. Apis will also continue to develop PGx tests for other genes, such as CYPD26.
Swedish genetic testing provider Devyser said this week that it has secured a 36-month, SEK 61.8 million ($6.4 million) tender in Udine, Italy. The deal covers next-generation sequencing and fragment analysis products used in diagnostic areas such as hereditary disease and oncology.
Revvity said this week that its board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $.07 per share of its common stock, payable on Aug. 8 to shareholders of record as of July 18.
Biotage, a Stockholm-based global products and services provider to the drug discovery and development and analytical testing markets, said this week that RWK BidCo, a newly formed company indirectly wholly owned by KKR funds, has made a cash offer to Biotage's shareholders to transfer all of their ordinary shares in Biotage to RWK BidCo for a consideration of SEK 145 (about $15.17) per Biotage ordinary share. The offer values Biotage at approximately SEK 11.6 billion ($1.2 billion). Biotage's board of directors has recommended that company shareholders accept the public offer from RWK BidCo, noting that, among other things, it represents a premium of 60.1 percent compared to the closing share price of SEK 90.55 for a Biotage ordinary share on the Nasdaq Stockholm on April 17, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the offer. Biotage offers products and services in the peptide workflow, protein purification, biomolecule purification, and oligo synthesis markets, among others.
Empire Genomics of Buffalo, New York, said this week that it has partnered with BioDot, based in Irvine, California, to launch a new line of hematology-focused FISH probe panels and controls, called the BDot Probe line, for use on the BioDot CellWriter S platform. The new line will have the first commercially available FISH probe reagents optimized for the system. The initial release includes probe panels for several hematologic malignancies including multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelogenous leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The firms have also codeveloped a control probe line optimized for the CellWriter S. They they will continue to collaborate on expanding the BDot product line to include additional panels and new tools for workflow automation, traceability, and reporting.
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.