NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Roche NimbleGen said this week that it has entered into a partnership with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and sequencing services firm Macrogen to conduct an eight-month copy number variation study of Korean individuals. According to Roche, the two-phase study will include large-scale characterization of CNVs in Korean populations and analysis of common CNVs in genome-wide association studies for complex disease including diabetes.
In Phase I of the study, researchers will use NimbleGen CGH 2.1M arrays to analyze 50 apparently healthy individuals. In Phase II, the impact of CNVs on human disease will be addressed in a genome-wide association study focused on diabetes mellitus type 2.
Aushon BioSystems said this week that researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard are using the firm's 2470 Arrayer technology for small molecule microarray research.
The Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, will provide clinical lab testing for Saladax Biomedical's 5-Fluorouracil Assay. Saladax said that through Karolinska it can now offer 5-FU testing and 5-FU dose management to hospitals and oncologists throughout Europe.
Mobidiag said this week that it had CE-marked its microarray-based Prove-it Herpes test. The multiplex assay identifies seven herpesviruses. The Helsinki, Finland-based firm estimated the European market for herpes diagnostics at around €100 million ($140 million).
Enigma Diagnostics said this week that the UK's Veterinary Laboratories Agency has completed independent testing for bovine viral diarrhea using the firm's Enigma FL (Field Laboratory).
According to the Porton Down, England-based molecular diagnostics firm, its instrument was used to analyze more than 100 blood samples that had already been screened by antigen ELISA and a laboratory-based RT-PCR for the presence of BVD virus. Around half of the samples were proved BVDV positive by the laboratory-based PCR. "With the level of concordance between the two tests being above 97 percent, this confirmed the Enigma FL system can produce laboratory-standard results with a high degree of confidence," the firm said.