NEW YORK – Illumina said this week in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it has fully repaid a $750 million credit agreement with JP Morgan. The firm’s payment was $761 million, funded with cash on hand as well as $500 million in notes recently issued and underwritten by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
Sophia Genetics said this week that it has expanded a previously announced partnership with AstraZeneca designed to increase global access to the MSK-ACCESS liquid biopsy test powered by the Sophia DDM informatics platform. The next stage of the partnership will see Sophia and AstraZeneca deploy MSK-ACCESS to 20 undisclosed locations worldwide over the next 12 months. Additionally, through a real-world evidence study, researchers will be able to evaluate the operational benefits of liquid biopsy testing, including the speed of results and the ability of users to consistently achieve high-quality data in a variety of laboratory settings, Sophia said. MSK-ACCESS is a decentralized version of a circulating tumor DNA test developed by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that combines the Sohpia DDM platform with MSK's scientific and clinical expertise.
Thermo Fisher Scientific this week announced the recipients of this year's Oncomine Clinical Research Grant. The winners include researchers from Tata Memorial Centre in India, Leiden University Center in the Netherlands, Western University in Canada, and Fred Hutch Cancer Center in the US. Thermo Fisher said the recipients are "awarded reagents and general funding" but did not disclose the exact amount.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies said this week that the company will participate in the Project for Pediatric Oncology Research Sites (PROGRESS) study to help improve outcomes for childhood leukemias in Ghana.
As part of the initiative, Oxford Nanopore will support Yemaachi Biotech, pediatric oncology units at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and Greater Accra Regional Hospital, as well as Newcastle University, to conduct nanopore sequencing for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients in Ghana.
According to a Yemaachi spokesperson, Oxford Nanopore has made "significant in-kind contributions" to the study, consisting of hardware and discounts on reagents to facilitate sequencing.
Agilent and GenNext Technologies said this week that they are collaborating to integrate GenNext's AutoFox Protein Footprinting System with Agilent's 6560 Ion Mobility Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (IM-QTOF) LC/MS System to enable biopharmaceutical researchers to conduct detailed protein structure analysis and biomolecular interaction studies. The workflow starts with hydroxyl radical protein footprinting by the AutoFox system followed by detection and quantification on the IM-QTOF system. Data analysis is then conducted using GenNext's FoxWare and Agilent's MassHunter IM-MS software, the partners said.
Agilent Technologies said this week that it has received California state clinical laboratory license and CLIA certification allowing the company to launch its Biopharma CDx Services Lab in Carpinteria, California. The lab will be used to support drug development with companion diagnostic development. The company said that the lab offers innovative technologies that can be used to help assess biomarkers as well as assays that can help customers to generate robust data.
Cabrini Health and Monash University said this week that they have received a $10 million donation from the PMF Foundation to support a precision oncology genomic testing program. Cabrini and Monash will receive the funds over the course of five years, during which time they will establish a dedicated genomics laboratory and the infrastructure to genomically screen over 2,000 patients per year in Victoria, Australia.
Danaher this week announced that its board of directors has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.27 per share of its common stock, payable on Oct. 25 to shareholders of record on Sept. 27.
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.