Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Paragon Genomics, MGI Tech Form Distribution Alliance

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Paragon Genomics said today that it has signed a global distribution agreement with MGI Tech for certain of the companies' respective next-generation sequencing panels and sample prep products.

Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, MGI Tech — a subsidiary of China's BGI — will distribute Paragon's CleanPlex next-generation sequencing panels for use with its own sequencing platforms worldwide except for the US. Additionally, Paragon will distribute MGI's MGISP-100RS, MGISP-960RS, and future automated sample prep systems in the US and Canada.

Additional terms were not disclosed.

Paragon added that its CleanPlex target enrichment chemistry — which uses proprietary amplicon sequencing technology to remove nonspecific PCR products generated during highly multiplexed PCR reactions — will be validated on MGI's systems. It is also joining MGI's compatible partner program, and the companies will collaborate on marketing and promotional activities in support of their alliance.

Last year, Hayward, California-based Paragon signed an agreement to integrate its CleanPlex technologies into Sophia Genetics' AI platform. Paragon also recently introduced a research-use-only CleanPlex panel for lung cancer in addition to its existing cancer, mitochondrial disease, and custom design panels.

The Scan

ChatGPT Does As Well As Humans Answering Genetics Questions, Study Finds

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics had ChatGPT answer genetics-related questions, finding it was about 68 percent accurate, but sometimes gave different answers to the same question.

Sequencing Analysis Examines Gene Regulatory Networks of Honeybee Soldier, Forager Brains

Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

Analysis of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohort Uncovers New Genetic Loci Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

The study in Alzheimer's & Dementia highlighted known genes, but also novel ones with biological ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Tara Pacific Expedition Project Team Finds High Diversity Within Coral Reef Microbiome

In papers appearing in Nature Communications and elsewhere, the team reports on findings from the two-year excursion examining coral reefs.