NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Transgenomic today announced that it has amended its license agreement with Exiqon to include the rights to Exiqon's locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides.
The new agreement provides Transgenomic with access to LNA oligos for use with all of its mutation enrichment technologies, including multiplexed ICE COLD-PCR. It also covers worldwide commercial use of LNA oligos for analysis of all cancer genes on all platforms, including next-generation sequencing.
Exiqon's LNA oligonucleotide technology offers improved sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional DNA chemistries, the firm said in a statement.
"This expanded agreement supports the global commercialization of our revolutionary multiplexed ICE COLD-PCR enrichment technology," Transgenomic CEO Paul Kinnon said in a statement. "Use of Exiqon's LNA oligos with our MX-ICP technology significantly enhances identification of very low concentration cancer mutations in liquid biopsies."
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In May 2014, Omaha, Neb.-based Transgenomic expanded its license agreement with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to commercialize multiplexed versions of ICE COLD-PCR technology.