October News and Product Briefs
News Briefs
The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health convened its second major meeting of 2014, bringing together more than 250 international leaders to collaborate on innovative solutions to accelerate sharing of genomic and clinical data. At their plenary meeting, held in San Diego, California, Alliance members shared progress to date and discussed next steps for the effort. Current Alliance projects include a global BRCA Challenge, which aims to learn from genotype and phenotype data from many BRCA-related cancer risk studies without compromising patient privacy; and the Matchmaker Exchange project, designed to help patients and doctors grappling with rare genotypes and phenotypes to overcome siloed data, find one another through a federated architecture, and work together. The Global Alliance now claims over 140 member organizations dedicated to improving human health by maximizing the potential of genomic medicine. Press release
DNAnexus announced its support of the industry’s first cloud-based genome center to integrate next-generation sequencing with de-identified clinical records, a collaboration between the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) and leading healthcare providers. DNAnexus provides the data sharing and an analytics environment for various RGC research partnerships. In one major collaboration, the RGC plans to sequence over 100,000 de-identified DNA samples obtained from Geisinger Health System and provide the data to Geisinger. (See Bio-IT World’s coverage for details.) Via the cloud-based genome center, the RGC will integrate the resulting genomic data with corresponding de-identified clinical information, also provided by Geisinger, to guide drug discovery. Press release
The GIANT Consortium (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits) has completed the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date, involving more than 300 institutions and more than 250,000 subjects. The study roughly doubles the number of known gene regions influencing height to more than 400 and offers a model for investigating traits and diseases caused by many common gene changes acting together. GIANT investigators shared and analyzed data from the genomes of 253,288 people for this GWAS. Findings were published in Nature Genetics. Press release
The Jackson Laboratory received a $10 million gift from technology investor David Roux and his wife Barbara, to support research on genetically-based diseases. A new Roux Family Center for Genomics and Computational Biology, based in Maine and Connecticut, will be endowed with three new faculty chair positions and a permanent fund for recruiting staff and driving research and discovery at the Laboratory. Press release
BioNano Genomics announced the purchase of an Irys System by The Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. The Irys System will be used to improve the quality of the human reference genome for the Genome Reference Consortium (GRC). Researchers at The Genome Institute will use the Irys System in their workflow as they determine the sequence, location and orientation of genes and transposable elements in the human genome. For more on the GRC’s use of novel and alternative sequencing and gene mapping technologies to refine the human reference genome, see “The Hunt for a New Reference Genome.” Press release
Genomics England invited NextCODE Health to take part in the analysis of forthcoming whole-genome sequence data across Genomics England’s focus areas in rare diseases and cancer. The announcement follows Genomics England’s recent ‘bake-off’ competition among more than two dozen analysis providers to identify those that could most effectively find and interpret the key genetic variants underlying rare diseases and cancer. NextCODE was cited for top results in tumor-normal cancer interpretation, and was one of few companies to compete in all fields being evaluated. See also Bio-IT World’s recent coverage of the launch of NextCODE’s online genomic data sharing platform. Press release
IBM, working with Cleveland Clinic, formed a new initiative to use IBM Watson technology in the area of genomic research to help oncologists deliver personalized medicine by uncovering new cancer treatment options for patients. The Lerner Research Institute’s Genomic Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic will evaluate Watson’s ability to help oncologists develop more personalized care to patients for a variety of cancers. Press release
TARA Biosystems, a new organ-on-a-chip company, launched with a capital commitment from Harris & Harris Group. Based on research out of Columbia University, the Radisic Laboratory and MIT, TARA Biosystems will develop processes for evaluating the safety and efficacy of new therapies and new drug compounds. TARA Biosystems will initially provide heart-on-a-chip human tissue models for both toxicology and drug discovery applications. The company’s stem cell-derived organ-on-a-chip platform is based on proprietary “biowire” technology. Press release
Appistry selected the winner of its inaugural Appistry Pipeline Challenge. A project team led by Dr. Benjamin Darbro, director of the Shivanand R. Patil Cytogenetics and Molecular Laboratory at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, will receive a complete hardware and software system from Appistry for developing and executing its pipeline. The winning pipeline will integrate the results of a concurrently run NGS assay and a SNP containing chromosomal microarray to calculate patient specific, genome-wide NGS performance metrics, to alleviate the need for confirmatory assays using Sanger sequencing. Press release
Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced plans to expand J-Labs (formerly Janssen Labs) to include a new incubator in Texas Medical Center’s new Innovation Institute. A new 30,000-square-foot J-Labs facility in Houston will accommodate up to 50 life science startups. The Texas J-Labs incubator will follow the same approach currently in operation at the California- and Boston-based J-Labs facilities, where regional entrepreneurs discuss funding, access third-party services, attend educational events and meet with R&D experts. Press release
EpiCypher awarded five grants for Histone Peptide Array Screening Services to researchers at Indiana University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The University of Florida, The University of Montreal and The Structural Genomics Consortium as part of its first annual grant program in support of chromatin biology and epigenetics research. The scientific founders of EpiCypher reviewed each grant application and selected the winners, each of whom will receive histone modification screening services employing EpiCypher’s EpiTitan Histone Peptide Arrays, along with a statistical analysis of their protein’s or antibody’s histone modification binding profile. Press release
QIAGEN formed a collaboration agreement with Astellas Pharma, an R&D-driven global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics paired with Astellas drugs for use in cancer and other diseases. The agreement gives Astellas access to QIAGEN’s development capabilities for assays based on PCR, NGS and multi-modal testing technologies using liquid and tissue biopsies. Initial projects in the collaboration focus on oncology and will pair QIAGEN diagnostics with two Astellas compounds in early-stage clinical trials: a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor, and an EGFR inhibitor. Press release
InSilixa, a new Sunnyvale, California-based molecular diagnostic (MDx) platform developer, completed a $13 million financing round led by PointGuard Ventures and Morningside. InSilixa is developing MDx platforms that use integrated circuit manufacturing technologies, with the aim of creating cost-efficient, mass-deployable, and disposable devices. Among these products will be point-of-care systems to identify pathogens in clinical samples, and simultaneously verify the absence or presence of genetic mutations that result in antibiotic resistance. Press release
Affinivax, a biotechnology company developing novel vaccines, launched with a $4 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding will be used to develop Affinivax’s Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS) technology platform, with an initial focus on the company’s lead vaccine program for Streptococcus pneumoniae. Affinivax also secured an exclusive license from Boston Children's Hospital to the intellectual property related to the MAPS technology platform, initially developed at Boston Children’s by Richard Malley, Affinivax’s scientific founder and the Kenneth McIntosh Chair in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s. Press release
Raze Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on oncology, closed a $24 million Series A financing round to advance the development of a new class of therapeutics that fight cancer by targeting mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism. Raze targets anabolic pathways that are related to proliferation, survival and biomass accumulation, and is developing therapies for both solid and hematologic cancers. Press release
GenomOncology and med fusion have partnered to optimize cancer treatment strategies based on patients’ disease states and tumor profiles. The companies will combine GenomOnoclogy’s GO Clinical Workbench and support services, with med fusion’s solid tumor disease-specific panels to deliver a comprehensive laboratory report detailing relevant drug and clinical trial options. med fusion anticipates launching a solid tumor menu expansion later this year with disease specific panels including for non small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Press release
RainDance Technologies announced that the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is now a RainDance Center of Excellence, making it the latest reference site and service provider for RainDance products. The HudsonAlpha Institute offers genetic research tools to help academic and commercial customers around the world better understand the genetic causes of cancer, bipolar disorders, and other common complex diseases. The Institute will offer a variety of next-generation sequencing and digital PCR services to study cell-based and cell-free biomarkers for disease risk predisposition, initial detection, pathology and residual disease, through the RainDance product portfolio. Press release
Visterra completed a $30 million Series B financing round to advance multiple product candidates from the company’s pipeline of novel monoclonal antibodies that target infectious diseases, including seasonal and pandemic influenza and dengue fever, into the clinic. The financing round was led by new Visterra investors, Merck Research Labs Venture Fund, Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd. and Temasek. Press release
Vision Genomics began operations and development of its AMD Medicine TM drug discovery and personalized medicine platform. The AMD Medicine platform, centered on genomic discovery in age-related macular degeneration, contains broad databases of gene expression, genetic and epigenetic data in ocular diseases as well as databases of drugs with known molecular targets and effects on gene expression in a variety of tissues and cell lines. It includes parametric and machine learning algorithms that screen for drugs that target signaling pathways that are pathologically activated or down regulated in the disorder. Press release
Cypher Genomics has identified de novo KCNB1 missense mutations as a novel genetic cause of severe epileptic encephalopathy. Cypher’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Ali Torkamani, Ph.D. reviewed the data at a platform presentation at the ASHG 2014 meeting, highlighting how Cypher’s Mantis technology, which incorporates commercial access to the Scripps Wellderly Cohort as a genome reference population, can be used to identify novel causes of rare diseases. Press release
New Products
Metamark released ProMark, a protein-based biopsy test to improve the accuracy of prognosis for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. ProMark was validated in multiple clinical studies totaling more than 1,250 cases, all of which demonstrated the ability to differentiate between aggressive and non-aggressive forms of prostate cancer at early stages of disease, helping to identify patients who may be appropriate candidates for active surveillance or in need of aggressive therapy. ProMark works by measuring the amount of specific protein biomarkers obtained by needle biopsy from regions of prostate tissue where the biomarkers are altered during tumor formation. Press release
Optibrium, a developer of software for drug discovery, released version 6.0 of its StarDrop software platform. The new release introduces Card View, an intuitive and flexible environment to view and interact with compound data in the context of discovery projects. Card View provides a visual way to interpret data on compounds and their relationships, presenting compound structures and associated data on virtual cards that can be moved and organized to create “links” and “stacks” that capture relationships and groupings. Press release
Certara released version 1.4 of its Phoenix product family. The Phoenix PK/PD software platform is used by more than 5,000 biopharmaceutical companies, veterinary and academic researchers, and regulatory agencies. Upgrades in Phoenix 1.4 include alignment with recent international regulatory guidance on bioavailability and bioequivalence studies for orally-administered drug products; addition of a new user interface to automate sequential PK/PD analysis in Phoenix NLME; and a new Watson LIMS plug-in within Phoenix Connect that allows users to connect to the widely-used Watson LIMS database, extract study data, and create a worksheet that is ready for analysis. Press release
Vela Diagnostics made available to early access customers the Sentosa SQ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Panel and the Sentosa Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Panel for next-generation sequencing (NGS) based detection of sequence variants, for research use only. Both the NSCLC Panel and the CRC Panel target 11 relevant genes with 28 amplicons. The NSCLC Panel allows laboratories to check for 113 mutations, while the CRC Panel screens for 112 mutations. The automated Sentosa NGS workflow, with a turnaround time of two days, supports DNA extraction, library preparation, sequencing and comprehensive result reporting. Press release
BioReliance, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation’s biologics and early-development services business, has introduced select in vitro ADME and toxicology testing services for pharmaceutical, chemical and industrial consumer products to its service offering. The set of predictive assays uses a novel suite of genetically modified cell lines created with CompoZr zinc finger nuclease (ZFN), a Sigma-Aldrich technology. These assays are used to determine levels of permeability, transport, metabolism and toxicity in a drug product. Press release
Randox Laboratories has launched a third party multi-analyte hematology control. The Acusera Hematology control contains 45 parameters – more than any other haematology control on the market – enabling labs to completely cover the commonly tested full blood profile in a single control. It provides a third party QC solution for Sysmex haematology analysers, with clinically relevant target values provided for instruments with 5-part differential technology. The new control is liquid ready-to-use, with open vial stability for 14 days for all analytes when stored at +2 to +8°C, and features barcoded labels. Press release