NEW YORK – Arima Genomics and Protean BioDiagnostics have formed a joint venture, Aventa Genomics, to launch what the new firm calls Aventa FusionPlus, a next-generation sequencing test for the detection of gene fusions, translocations, and rearrangements across 361 genes from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
The joint venture's new assay incorporates 3D genomics technology, which preserves the spatial proximity of fused and rearranged genes, providing 100-fold to 1,000-fold signal amplification and identification of novel breakpoints and fusion partners. This allows the test to improve upon conventional testing methods such as fluorescent in situ hybridization and RNA sequencing. It is performed in Aventa's CLIA-certified laboratory in Orlando, Florida.
"In previously characterized tumor specimens from patients with no known actionable driver, the Aventa FusionPlus test detected potentially actionable variants in half of the cases," Aventa Genomics Executive Director Chris Roberts said in a statement. "The increase in diagnostic yield from detecting actionable biomarkers FISH and RNA sequencing miss, we believe, will provide more treatment options and will facilitate improved patient management."
According to Arima CEO Sid Selvaraj, the new assay is the first clinical application of the 3D genomics methodology previously advanced by Arima Genomics.