NEW YORK – Mission Bio said that it has established a Center of Excellence (COE) at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, the company's first European COE. Led by the institute's Director Manel Esteller, the new center will inform academic and industrial best practices using the company's Tapestri platform for single-cell DNA and multiomic sequencing in hematological malignancy research, as well as a new breast cancer program. The Spanish research institute is Mission Bio's second Tapestri Center of Excellence following a similar agreement in March with the lab of Jorge Reis-Filho at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Lunit this week filed a registration statement for an initial public offering on the Korean Exchange. The startup maker of artificial intelligence-based software for cancer, said that it will offer more than 1.1 million shares in the range of KRW 44,000 to KRW 49,000 ($34 to $38) per share as it looks to raise at least KRW 54 billion ($42 million).
The Seoul-based firm most recently was funded by a $26 million investment from Guardant Health in 2021. Lunit this year received the CE-IVD mark for its AI -based PD-L1 expression test, called Lunit Scope PD-L1 TPS, and is developing another test, called Lunit Scope IO, that can analyze the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in tumor tissue to predict checkpoint inhibitor response.
ProPhase Labs said this week it has partnered with an unnamed diagnostics firm for new clinical chemistry, immunoassay, hematology, hemostasis, and urinalysis analyzers as part of its strategy to expand its in-house clinical testing capabilities. The Garden City, New York-based company said that it has procured clinical testing equipment and executed a new lease for additional space at its corporate headquarters. It also plans to expand its in-house genomics testing menu. The new space will be used to expand its high-complexity molecular diagnostics lab services, including traditional clinical testing in multiple specialty areas. ProPhase is also building a new genomics lab in Garden City to include next-generation sequencers to conduct whole-genome sequencing and perform genetic tests for clinical use and research.
Genomics England said this week that it will move its headquarters to London's Canary Wharf. The organization will move into One Canada Square at an undisclosed time. Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Breast Cancer Society of Canada said this week that it granted $250,000 in funding for a project to identify unique markers linked to HER2 breast cancer recurrence at Dalhousie University. The three-year project is led by Paola Marignani, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Dalhousie. Its goal will be to develop precision therapies that prevent breast cancer recurrence.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) have partnered on a new multi-year initiative that will provide research-based instructional resources and professional learning experiences to high school educators nationwide. The program, called Genome: Unlocking Life's Code, will provide educators with free lesson plans and storyline units to help guide high school students as they explore various genetic and genomics concepts. High-quality professional learning experiences will also be developed to support educators' use of the instructional materials, NSTA 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.