NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Trovagene said today that it has entered into an agreement with Chinese genomics service provider Novogene under which Novogene will validate Trovagene's proprietary urine collection and nucleic acid preservation device, NextCollect, and develop tests for the Chinese market.
Trovagene is selling Novogene the NextCollect device along with reagents and methods to extract cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from urine. Novogene will then validate the platform at its own facilities, which include a CAP-accredited lab in Tianjin, China.
Currently a research-use-only product, NextCollect is designed to preserve urinary DNA in applications such as oncology, infectious disease, urology, and transplantation. The technology stabilizes up to 200 ml's of a urine sample for two weeks at room temperature, increasing the quality and quantity of DNA that can be isolated from urine using Trovagene's proprietary methods.
David Jiang, Novogene's senior vice president of corporate development, said in a statement that the company is looking forward to developing innovative urine-based tests for the Chinese market once it validates the technology.
Trovagene said it is planning the first shipments of NextCollect for this month, which will support both the Novogene partnership and Trovagene's existing biomarker testing deals with pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca.