NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Rubicon Genomics today said it has reached agreements for the distribution of its DNA library preparation kits in China and obtained a license to intellectual property from the University of Michigan.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company is partnering with Beijing Emei Tongde Technology Development, RockGene BioTech, and GeneOcean Biotech to distribute Rubicon's products — including its ThruPlex-FD Prep Kits and PicoPlex DNA-seq Kits for Illumina's next-generation sequencing instruments — in China. The three firms sell and service genetic tools and consumables for life science and diagnostic applications, Rubicon said.
ThruPlex-FD Prep Kits streamline library preparation for fragmented DNA and cDNA and reduce sample input amounts to picogram levels, while PicoPlex WGA and PicoPlex DNA-seq Kits amplify DNA from a single cell into "highly accurate" and reproducible DNA libraries, Rubicon said.
The firm also announced a licensing deal covering technology from the University of Michigan that Rubicon will use in a "major development project" to further advance its DNA library preparation technology.
Rubicon CEO James Koziarz said in a statement, "Our researchers are developing technologies that we believe have the potential to fundamentally improve current approaches to DNA library preparation, and the intellectual property we have licensed from the University of Michigan could be an important element in this effort."
The company did not disclose the terms for any of the agreements.