NEW YORK – ERS Genomics said this week that it has licensed its CRISPR-Cas9 IP portfolio to Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), a not-for-profit drug discovery innovation center based in Cheshire, UK, through a nonexclusive commercial-use agreement. ERS Genomics licenses IP held by Emmanuelle Charpentier, comprising more than 100 patents worldwide.
Mainz Biomed said this week that it has expanded its collaboration with Liquid Biosciences, originally announced last November, to pancreatic cancer. The companies now plan to use Liquid Biosciences' AI analysis technology platform, called Emerge, to select biomarkers for Mainz's PancAlert test for the detection of pancreatic cancer. The companies recently completed the first phase of their original collaboration, around Mainz's colorectal cancer screening test. For the second phase, they plan to include microbiome biomarkers and to extend the AI algorithm, completing their analysis in Q4 of this year.
Danaher this week confirmed its third quarter and full-year 2024 financial guidance, saying that it expects core revenue will be down in the low-single-digit percent range.
Seegene and Springer Nature this week announced the launch of "Nature Awards MDx Impact Grants" to support innovation in syndromic PCR diagnostic assays. The global call for proposals builds on the 2023 Open Innovation Program, which attracted 281 applications from 47 countries, with 26 submissions selected. With the launch of this second phase, Seegene and Springer Nature are inviting scientists to directly propose product development ideas. Researchers are required to submit proposals featuring qualitative PCR-based analysis targeting human infectious diseases. Selected awardees will receive research funding of up to $600,000 per project, as well as Seegene's provision of syndromic PCR assays, extraction assays, consumables, instruments, and relevant software necessary for their clinical research project. The application deadline is Dec. 2, 2024, with the first evaluation concluding in February 2025 and final awards announced in August 2025, Seegene said.
Biocare Medical and Ensigna Biosystems have entered a strategic partnership to further the use of spatial biology for biomedical research and therapeutic development. As part of the partnership, Biocare Medical's Oncore Pro X immunohistochemistry (IHC) platforms and reagents will be integrated with Ensigna's comprehensive service capabilities and technical expertise to support method development and enhance spatial biology research. The partners this week said they will also integrate best-in-class antibody validation methodologies and various assays from key players in the spatial biology field "to provide a more robust and integrated solution for researchers and clinicians."
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.