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NuProbe Licenses Two Oligonucleotide Technologies from Rice University

NEW YORK – Sample preparation firm NuProbe today announced it has secured an exclusive global license to two oligonucleotide technologies from Rice University.

The technologies are non-extensible oligonucleotides (NEO) and linear DNA assembly (LDA.) NEO will lead to faster custom sequencing panel development while LDA technology will improve the throughput of nanopore-based sequencing by up to 10 times for short DNA, the firm said in a statement.

Financial and other details were not disclosed.

"The affordability and portability of nanopore sequencing greatly decrease the barrier to entry for high-throughput sequencing for clinical laboratories," NuProbe cofounder and Head of Innovation David Zhang said in a statement. Zhang is also a professor at Rice. "The LDA and NEO technologies allow NuProbe to develop affordable and ultrasensitive oncology panels for applications such as minimal residual disease monitoring."

Based in Houston, NuProbe was created when China's CarrierGene Biotech merged with Harvard University spinout NuProbe Global, finalized in January.

NuProbe has previously licensed other technology from Rice, namely blocker displacement amplification. The firm partnered with Qiagen in March to develop next-generation sequencing liquid biopsy tests and with Illumina in January to develop test for genetic disorders.

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