The company, which previously focused on the development of multiplex PCR assays, is hoping to make its ATOM-seq technology available for research use later this year.
The company hopes to commercialize the assay, and is pursuing a larger validation study, but may face competitors who have also staked claims for this indication.
Using BGI's sequencing technology, the firms plan to commercialize Natera's Signatera test in China and to develop reproductive health tests in "select markets."
Data being presented at the upcoming AACR meeting show that Guardant's liquid biopsy test provided more accurate and rapid mutation detection than tissue genotyping.
The assay monitors mutations across a patient's genome and matches them to mutations found in a patient's resected tumor and in DNA in the bloodstream.
Researchers will first compare liquid with tissue-based tumor profiling before implementing it as a way to enroll patients into the targeted drug trials.
In Nature this week: study of gene drive feasibility in lab mice, circulating tumor DNA from cerebrospinal fluid to track glioma progression, and more.
