NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Genome Institute of Singapore announced today that it has agreed to work with Singapore-based firm Pyrobett to develop novel molecular diagnostics based on pyrosequencing technology.
Pyrobett, which is a joint venture between Qiagen and life sciences instruments manufacturer BMS, has developed a pyrosequencing platform that will be used by the partners in a joint laboratory to create and validate molecular diagnostics assays, including bacterial and viral genotyping, the detection of mutations associated with drug resistance, and cancer detection.
According to GIS, Pyrobett's platform allows sequencing, including nucleic acid extraction and target DNA amplification, in less than five hours. Additional details about the technology were not disclosed.
GIS group leader Alexander Lezhava said in a statement that the GIS-Pyrobett joint lab is also in the process of establishing collaborations with major hospitals inSingaporeto support clinical validation studies of assays the partners develop.