NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Affymetrix today said it has exclusively licensed technology from Peptide Groove for HLA typing of human samples.
The technology called HLA*IMP is the first HLA typing statistical imputation method that can call four-digit HLA types from SNP genotyping data with high accuracy, Affy said, adding the technology enables HLA typing from genotyping data generated from different assays, including its Axiom assays.
According to Affy, conventional ways to type HLA, such as DNA sequencing, can be labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive. Imputing HLA types from genotyping data will provide a new, very high-throughput and low-cost alternative.
The technology also could have use in a broad range of HLA typing application needs, including donor repositories, drug development clinical trials, and translational research studies. Scientists using Axiom biobank arrays and other genotyping arrays for GWAS and fine mapping will be able to determine HLA type information without additional investigations, Affy said.
The company plans to incorporate the Peptide Groove technology as an added capability for its genotyping products. Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We now have a method for inferring an individual's HLA genotype based on evaluating genetic information from nearby variable sites that are more easily assayed than conventional HLA markers," Peter Donnelly, co-founder of Peptide Groove and a professor of statistical science and director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. "Better imputation of classical HLA alleles is an important goal in enabling association studies to understand the genetic risk of many complex and infectious diseases."
Affymetrix Chief Operating Officer Andy Last added, "The ability to determine HLA types from new or pre-existing genotyping data in parallel with other genetic analyses is a combination that will enable new scientific insights with greater efficiency."
Peptide Groove is based in Oxford, UK and develops and commercializes statistical analysis tools for high-throughput genotyping data.