NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – BGI and Xi'an Jiaotong University announced today that they have completed the sequencing of the endangered crested ibis (Nipponia Nippon). They said it is the fourth bird to be sequenced in the world, following the chicken, zebra finch, and turkey, and "has significant value and strategic importance to the protection and rescue of crested ibis from extinction and for the definition of its biological phenomenon." The sequencing effort was part of BGI's 1000 Plant and Animal Reference Genomes Project.
Accelr8 Technology said this week that its option agreement with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics extends the exclusivity period for good faith negotiations of business terms for a definitive pact. The extension period now includes milestones related to product development. As reported in February by GenomeWeb Daily News, Novartis is evaluating Accelr8's BACcel system for identifying the type and quantity of bacterial pathogens in clinical specimens through a technology evaluation agreement that has been extended to June 30, 2011.
XDx said this week that its AlloMap test has been CE Marked in the European Union under the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive. XDx received US Food and Drug Administration clearance for AlloMap in 2008. The test is a non-invasive, multi-gene expression assay used to aid in the identification of heart transplant recipients with stable allograft function who have a low probability of moderate/severe acute cellular rejection at the time of testing in conjunction with a standard clinical assessment.