Asuragen AmplideX PCR/CESMN1/2 Kit

Asuragen has launched the AmplideX PCR/CE SMN1/2 kit. Building upon the testing workflow of the AmplideX PCR/CE SMN1 Kit, the new assay quantifies both SMN1 and SMN2 exon 7 copy number in less than four hours from a single PCR reaction. The firm said that the assay shares a common testing workflow with all other assays in the AmplideX portfolio and is similarly optimized for broadly installed Thermo Fisher Scientific Applied Biosystems Genetic Analyzers.

Interest in SMN1 and SMN2 copy number quantification has grown following the 2016 FDA approval of nusinersen (Biogen Idec's Spinraza) for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, a disease attributable to loss of functional copies of the SMN1 gene, and the severity of which is inversely correlated with the number of copies of SMN2, Asuragen noted.