NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – ThermaGenix said Saturday that it has exclusively licensed technologies from Brandeis University that employ PCR to enhance detection and analysis of nucleic acids, including both DNA and RNA.
For more than 20 years, Brandeis professor Lawrence Wangh and his colleagues "have investigated and improved virtually every aspect of PCR and RT-PCR amplification of DNA and RNA," ThermaGenix said. The firm noted that the university’s additive reagents eliminate mis-priming "before, during, and after PCR and RT-PCR amplification and thereby increase assay quality, quantitative accuracy, sensitivity, and multiplexing capabilities."
The platform technologies it has licensed are applicable to diagnosis of human cancers, infectious diseases, and genomic analysis of virtually all forms of life, ThermaGenix said. In May, the firm will begin marketing its Therma-Stop and Therma-Go products, which it said enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of conventional PCR reactions.
ThermaGenix noted that it will also use additional methods and reagents it has licensed from Brandeis to construct molecular assays for species identification and molecular diagnostics tests for cancer-related mutations in DNA recovered from blood plasma.
"These new products — as well as other technologies ThermaGenix has licensed and will commercialize — will make crucial medical procedures faster, more effective, and more affordable," ThermaGenix President Peter Coassin said in a statement.