NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Next-generation sequencing instrument firm GnuBio said on Wednesday it is moving to a new 11,000-square-foot space to facilitate its transition to commercialization mode.
The new space is in Cambridge, Mass., where the firm is currently located, and will have laboratory space, allowing the company to prepare for the commercial launch of its desktop DNA sequencing technology. In addition to a general laboratory and office space for new hires in product development, software development, and sales and marketing, the facility will have manufacturing and fabrication capabilities, GnuBio said.
"The additional space will allow us to bring all initial manufacturing capabilities, from the consumables to the instrumentation, in house," GnuBio President and CEO John Boyce said in a statement. "The new facility will also provide the necessary space for the first critical hires for our commercial team."
The firm's desktop sequencing platform is based on microfluidic and emulsion technology licensed from David Weitz at Harvard University. GnuBio plans to launch the system at a list price of $50,000, and is working with partners to develop customized and standard panels to run on the system.
At the start of this year, GnuBio and its early-access customer, the Montreal Heart Institute, announced a collaboration to develop a genetic panel for predicting the risk of sudden cardiac death that will run on GnuBio's system.