NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Xagenic today announced it has acquired exclusive rights to a mutation detection technology developed at the University of Toronto that could be used in liquid biopsy testing.
The electrochemical clamp assay technology detects specific SNPs and genetic mutations in cell-free nucleic acids in blood plasma or serum. Xagenic said the acquisition could enable the Xagenic X1 platform to expand into blood-based or liquid biopsy testing.
"The expansion of our platform to include clamp assay technology opens the possibility of using the X1 platform for noninvasive cancer mutation detection as an alternative to PCR or sequencing," Xagenic CEO Timothy Still said in a statement, adding that the firm's initial R&D focus is in reproductive health, but the acquisition enables it to expand the company's reach into other applications, including oncology, prenatal diagnostics, mutation detection, and other areas.
Researchers led by University of Toronto Professor and Xagenic Founder and CTO Shana Kelley published a paper demonstrating the utility of the electrochemical clamp assay to detect KRAS and BRAF mutations today in Nature Chemistry.