NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Illumina and Asuragen plan to collaborate on companion diagnostics development, Asuragen said today.
Under the agreement, Asuragen will leverage its Quantidex next-generation sequencing product platform and Illumina's MiSeq Dx instrument, which has US Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance, to develop customized companion diagnostics for its biotech and pharmaceutical partners.
The Quantidex DNA assay is a multiplexed quantitative PCR assay that measures the absolute copy number of PCR-amplifiable DNA in a sample, according to Asuaragen. In addition, the firm recently launched its Quantidex Pan Cancer kit, a research-use-only product that analyzes 46 amplicons from 21 genes.
President and CEO of Asuragen Matt McManus said in a statement that the firm's Quantidex NGS product platform would enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop "a unique DNA and/or RNA panel of interest." In addition, he said, the system is "built under design control and manufactured in our cGMP facility, providing a high-quality basis for regulated diagnostic product development."