NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Swift Biosciences announced today a licensing deal with Vela Operations for the rights to Swift's myT Primer Technology.
The terms of the agreement give Vela Diagnostics the non-exclusive rights to use Swift's technology in Vela's real-time quantitative PCR-based IVD products for detecting somatic mutations in human cancer. Vela will seek regulatory approval for the assay kits globally and Swift will develop myT Primers for research-use only applications.
Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"By incorporating Swift's myT Primer technology into our real-time PCR based molecular diagnostic products, we will provide the market with highly sensitive mutation detection capabilities which will enhance the level of cancer patient care," Michael Tillmann, CEO of Vela Operations, the Singapore-based parent firm of Vela Diagnostics, said in a statement.
Vela Diagnostics offers molecular diagnostic tests run on its Sentosa workflow system. In October, it announced a deal with Life Technologies to develop clinical diagnostic tests on Life Tech's Ion Personal Genome Machine platform.
Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Swift develops products for the genomics market. The myT Primer technology has been developed to detect mutations in the BRAF and KRAS genes, but the technology is "readily applicable" to other mutations and infectious disease testing, the company said.