NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Complete Genomics today said that it has joined SAIC-Frederick in a collaborative effort to identify and validate somatic mutations from 50 pediatric cancer cases from multiple research centers across the US.
SAIC-Frederick, a contractor working on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, will use Complete Genomics' sequencing and bioinformatics services to analyze 50 tumor-normal pairs. The partners hope the analysis will enable the identification of patterns of tumorigenesis, which could ultimately lead to improved diagnostics and treatments for pediatric cancer.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Complete Genomics will be paid $1.1 million for completing the project. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The collaboration is part of NCI's Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) Initiative, which seeks to use genomics technologies to rapidly identify valid therapeutic targets in childhood cancers.
The contract contains an option for SAIC-Frederick and Complete Genomics to sequence more than 500 additional NCI cases over an 18-month period.