NEW YORK – Singular Genomics and TwinStrand Biosciences announced on Tuesday that the companies will collaborate to combine TwinStrand's duplex sequencing method with Singular's HD-Seq technology on the G4 sequencing platform for applications such as minimal residual disease (MRD) detection.
The companies anticipate that their combined technologies will result in a tool capable of detecting rare variants with greater sensitivity and specificity than non-duplex next-generation sequencing-based liquid biopsies at lower cost, and that this strategic collaboration will expand each of their product offerings.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Seattle-based TwinStrand's technology enables highly accurate sequencing by independently analyzing both strands of a DNA molecule and comparing their sequences to filter true mutations from sequencing artifacts. It is compatible with any Illumina platform. The company sued Guardant Health last year for allegedly infringing on this technology.
San Diego-based Singular aims to challenge Illumina with its G4 sequencer. The platform boasts single-read accuracy of 99.6 percent to 99.9 percent and quality scores above Q30 for 75 percent to 90 percent of bases.
"Working together and leveraging our collective technologies, we have the opportunity to set a new standard in ultra-high accuracy, high-efficiency sequencing for applications like MRD detection," Drew Spaventa, Singular's founder and CEO, said in a statement.