Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Biocartis Receives €1.4M Grant to Develop New Technology for Molecular Surveillance

NEW YORK – Biocartis announced on Tuesday that it has received a €1.4 million ($1.7 million) grant from Brussels-based Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship to develop next-generation technology for the firm's molecular diagnostics platform Idylla.

The grant will be used to support the development of technology to allow for the offline customization of Idylla cartridges. Currently, the cartridges have the generic components for sample preparation and biomarker detection as well as biomarker-specific reagents. The next-generation cartridges would have only the generic components and would be made biomarker-specific with the addition of a ready-to-use mixture containing biomarker-specific reagents, Biocartis said in a statement.

The new technology would be compatible with the current cartridge manufacturing lines and installed base, the firm added. It is also expected to reduce Idylla assay development time and cost and "aims at decentralizing customized testing and personalized monitoring" for molecular surveillance, the company said. Biocartis expects to launch the first products using the new technology in 2022.

"The products that will be based on this new Idylla technology could potentially be used across the entire spectrum of molecular surveillance, including treatment response monitoring, molecular residual disease, and recurrence monitoring," Benoit Devogelaere, Biocartis' chief technology officer, said in a statement. "We also see applications in the area of infectious diseases, where it could allow to rapidly customize Idylla assays for the detection and discrimination of different viruses and viral strains, which may be important in the fight against pandemic threats."

The Scan

Sick Newborns Selected for WGS With Automated Pipeline

Researchers successfully prioritized infants with potential Mendelian conditions for whole-genome sequencing or rapid whole-genome sequencing, as they report in Genome Medicine.

Acne-Linked Loci Found Through GWAS Meta-Analysis

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics find new and known acne vulgaris risk loci with a genome-wide association study and meta-analysis, highlighting hair follicle- and metabolic disease-related genes.

Retina Cell Loss Reversed by Prime Editing in Mouse Model of Retinitis Pigmentosa

A team from China turns to prime editing to correct a retinitis pigmentosa-causing mutation in the PDE6b gene in a mouse model of the progressive photoreceptor loss condition in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

CRISPR Screens Reveal Heart Attack-Linked Gene

Researchers in PLOS Genetics have used CRISPR screens to home in on variants associated with coronary artery disease that affect vascular endothelial function.