NEW YORK – Genome Diagnostics (GenDx) said on Tuesday that it has signed a nonexclusive service agreement with Oxford Nanopore Technologies for a sequencing-based transplant assay the firm has under development.
Under the deal, Oxford Nanopore will provide sequencing services to Utrecht, Netherlands-based GenDx for NGS-Turbo, a high-resolution HLA-typing assay with a turnaround time of less than four hours that can help transplant patients be matched with solid organs, such as kidneys. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"By combining our expertise as a world leader in sequencing-based HLA typing with the sequencing knowledge of Oxford Nanopore, we are convinced that we will be able to bring products to the organ transplantation field that allow better HLA typing, enabling better matching and improved outcome of transplantation," GenDx CEO Wietse Mulder said in a statement.
Early access testing for NGS-Turbo will start later this year, according to GenDx.
Last month, French diagnostics firm Eurobio Scientific said it had agreed to acquire GenDx for €135 million ($134.7 million) in cash.