NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Molecular Loop Biosolutions, a new startup focused on sample prep and data analysis for next-generation DNA sequencing, said today that it has acquired from Invitae a molecular inversion probe-based technology initially developed by Good Start Genetics.
According to Molecular Loop, the intellectual property portfolio offers a streamlined process for producing high-quality variant and copy number calls from genomic DNA.
Greg Porreca, Molecular Loop's founder and CEO, first worked with the inversion probe technology as a co-founder of Good Start, which Invitae acquired in 2017.
According to Eric Boyden, Molecular Loop's head of R&D, the approach is simpler than hybrid capture technologies, but functions at a higher throughput than PCR amplification. It involves a "highly optimized tiling probe design" that is robust to allele dropout, as well as automated chemistry, error correction, and sample multiplexing that is resistant to index-swapping, the company said.
Financial and other terms of the deal with Invitae were not disclosed.