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TGen Inks Tuberculosis Test Deal With Advanced Biological Laboratories

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Advanced Biological Laboratories will market and distribute a next-generation sequencing-based test for tuberculosis from the Translational Genomics Research Institute under a licensing deal announced today.

The test, called DeepCheck-TB, is currently available for research use only. As part of the agreement announced by TGen, ABL will distribute a compact, portable, and affordable diagnostic model that physicians can use to determine the most appropriate treatment for individual TB patients.

According to TGen, DeepChek-TB can be completed in two to three days — compared to six to nine weeks with current tests — and can identify drug-resistant TB among mixed infections. "Significantly, our TB assay technology holds the potential to provide doctors — even those in relatively rural settings — a quick and economical way to accurately determine the exact drugs that can and can't be used for each patient," David Engelthaler, codirector of TGen's Pathogen and Microbiome division, said in a statement.

Luxembourg-based ABL will distribute DeepChek-TB through its network of clinicians and distributors in more than 80 countries, TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope, said. Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Last week, ABL announced a deal with Mayo Clinic Laboratories to develop a clinical test to detect mutations associated with antiviral resistance in human cytomegalovirus.

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