NEW YORK ─ Brussels-based Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) has awarded a €720,000 ($872,989) grant to Ohmx.bio and Fujirebio Europe to develop a clinical in vitro diagnostics platform that incorporates third-generation sequencing (TGS) technologies, the firms announced Tuesday.
The project, called IVD-seq, will initially focus on the development of a cost-efficient, accurate, and portable IVD modular platform for highly polymorphic regions, and then aim to expand to other molecular diagnostic markers, the companies said.
The project brings together clinical IVD expertise from Fujirebio Europe and third-generation sequencing based-omics solutions from Ghent-based Ohmx.bio to develop a platform that operates from Flanders, Belgium, the firms added.
"Next-generation sequencing has already been incorporated into clinical in vitro diagnostics so there is a significant opportunity to explore the benefits and potential advantages of building an IVD platform incorporating the third-generation sequencing platforms," Gerben Menschaert, chief scientific officer and cofounder of Ohmx.bio, said in a statement.
The aim of the research is to create a TGS IVD platform by optimizing a multilayer approach that encompasses the initial sample and library preparation, state-of-the-art sequencing technologies, and improved genotyping procedures, the firms said. In addition, the project aims to incorporate multiplexing-related clinical markers within one IVD solution.
Fujirebio Europe is based in Ghent, Belgium.