Greenphire, Florence Healthcare Team Up; Illumina Partnerships; Oxford Nanopore Develops New Data Technology

By Bio-IT Staff 

November 29, 2023 | Greenphire and Florence Healthcare announce a technology partnership; Illumina and Veracyte join together in a multi-year agreement; Oxford Nanopore Technologies collaborates with Fabric Genomics and Saphetor to develop data technology for research; more. 

Greenphire and Florence Healthcare announced a technology partnership that integrates two of the most popular software solutions in the industry. By integrating their technologies, Greenphire and Florence Healthcare will allow sites to have fewer activities to manage and will be paid more promptly. Together, both organizations have validated their technology partnership with numerous industry sponsors and sites. Press release. 

Veracyte has entered into a multi-year agreement with Illumina to develop and offer some of its high-performing molecular tests as decentralized in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests on Illumina’s NextSeq 550Dx next-generation sequencing (NGS) instrument. The agreement is part of Veracyte’s expanded, multi-platform IVD approach, which will also include qPCR and is designed to accelerate the company’s ability to make its tests available to more patients globally. Press release. 

Illumina has also released BaseSpace Sequence Hub data for their ScaleBio Single Cell RNA Sequencing Kit. The ScaleBio Single Cell RNA Sequencing Kit unleashes throughput by using combinatorial indexing and an instrument-free approach to achieve highly multiplexed library preparation on hundreds of thousands of cells at a reduced overall cost relative to existing workflows. Press release. 

Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Fabric Genomics have collaborated to develop a scalable software solution for the end-to-end analysis and clinical reporting of rich genomic data. The joint solution, which will be commercially available for deployment in CLIA/CAP labs, will support use of nanopore sequencing in neonatal/pediatric intensive care units, bringing the benefits of richer data and faster insights to support rapid disease characterization of babies and children with genetic disorders in acute settings. Press release. 

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has also partnered with Saphetor to support the comprehensive analysis of nanopore sequencing data and to enable end-to-end workflows. The collaboration with Saphetor will enable a direct connection between secondary and tertiary analysis, connecting Oxford Nanopore EPI2ME research software with VarSome Clinical, a CE-marked in vitro diagnostic medical device and HIPAA-compliant platform from Saphetor. This will deliver an integrated solution from sample to variant interpretation. Press release. 

Boston Scientific Corporation has acquired Relievant Medsystems, a company that offers the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared Intracept Intraosseous Nerve Ablation System, a therapy to treat vertebrogenic pain that is a form of chronic low back pain. The Intracept system, a basivertebral nerve ablation therapy, will be an addition to the Boston Scientific chronic pain portfolio that includes spinal cord stimulation, radiofrequency ablation and an interspinous spacer procedure. The acquisition includes an upfront cash payment of $850 million and undisclosed additional contingent payments based on sales performance over the next three years. Press release. 

EpiCypher announced the development of a fully automated CUT&RUN assay (autoCUT&RUN) for high-throughput mapping of chromatin features. Based on EpiCypher’s industry-leading CUTANA CUT&RUN kits, this technology is a significant paradigm shift in epigenomic profiling, enabling scaled research that will advance therapeutic development and biomarker discovery. EpiCypher developed the CUTANA autoCUT&RUN solution to meet the rapidly growing demand for large scale applications, including therapeutic mechanism of action, drug dosing, cell identity fingerprinting, and biomarker discovery. EpiCypher will soon commercialize autoCUT&RUN as part of an end-to-end CUT&RUN assay service. Press release. 

Dotmatics announced a major new release of its popular GraphPad Prism application, the world's leading analysis and graphing solution for scientific research. Prism 10 introduces a number of features including a new, more open file format (.prism), a variety of core graphing and analysis improvements, and a beta for Prism Cloud. The enhanced functionality makes it easier for scientists using Prism to collaborate and integrate diverse data into their scientific workflows and applications. This collaboration addresses common challenges in external consultations, like time constraints, glass slide damage risks, and high costs. It connects pathologists with peers and world-class experts, stimulates growth in reference centers' consultation services, and streamlines healthcare operations, ultimately reducing time to diagnosis and costs whenever pathology cases are shared between institutions. Press release.  

The Pistoia Alliance has announced its four new strategic priorities and has appointed steering committees to lead collaboration in these areas: Harness AI to Expedite R&D, Deliver Data-Driven Value, Sustainability Driven R&D and Accelerate Use of Real-World Data. The priorities were selected in response to the evolving needs of the life science industry amid digital transformation, climate change, and shifts in how research is conducted and how healthcare is delivered post-pandemic. The Alliance consulted its members and revisited the challenges raised in its latest Lab of the Future survey. The steering committees are representative of the Pistoia Alliance’s global membership, including experts from top pharma and technology companies, and will help formulate the Alliance’s strategy and project goals. Press release. 

Twist BioScience has launched Twist Express Genes, a new gene synthesis service with an order-to-shipping turnaround time of five to seven business days. Twist leverages its ability to miniaturize the chemical reaction to creating DNA using its silicon-based DNA synthesis platform along with software, processes, and the expanded layout of its Wilsonville facility to deliver clonal genes and gene fragments at scale and with rapid turnaround times.  Press release. 

MemVerge and Sentieon have entered a collaboration to accelerate next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the public cloud. MemVerge and Sentieon integrated the world's most efficient cloud automation platform with the world's most advanced genomics software engine to form WaveRider for Sentieon. For bioinformaticians and biotech researchers working to reduce cloud costs by accelerating job completion, the WaveRider feature of MemVerge Memory Machine software boosts Sentieon performance by 40%, adding to the 10x performance advantage of Sentieon genomics analytics over open-source alternatives. As part of the collaboration, WaveRider for Sentieon users receive up to 5,000 core hours of Sentieon usage per month free. Press release. 

Quantum software pioneer Classiq unveiled a new industry initiative, the Quantum Computing for Life Sciences & Healthcare Center, formed in collaboration with NVIDIA and the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. The initiative will champion the development and implementation of quantum algorithms and applications, targeting their transformative potential on life sciences and healthcare. In collaboration with NVIDIA, Classiq will establish a multifaceted research landscape. Leveraging NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU capabilities, along with the integration between the NVIDIA CUDA Quantum programming platform and Classiq’s software infrastructure, the center is set to offer a robust environment for quantum-centric innovations and training non-quantum experts. Press release. 

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced the launch of its Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO), which integrates the most advanced computational and data science approaches with the institution’s extensive scientific and clinical expertise to significantly improve patient’s lives by transforming cancer care and research. Through its work, IDSO not only allows for better analysis of existing data but also changes how MD Anderson generates, collects and manages data. This comprehensive approach enables research and clinical teams to derive new and deeper insights that can be applied to accelerate drug discovery and development, to improve scheduling and access for patients, to enhance the safety and quality of care, and to allow for personalized treatment decisions based on results and predictions from diagnostic tests. Press release. 

Yourgene Health has collaborated with Pacific Biosciences to optimize size selection for long-read sequencing workflows. PacBio has qualified Yourgene’s LightBench instrument for size selection of long DNA fragments, enabling high yields for HiFi sequencing data. Press release. 

Leica Microsystems has released version 13 of Aivia, its AI image analysis software now provides a toolkit for transforming multiplexed 2D data into spatial insights. With Aivia 13, researchers can unveil spatial insights in tissues, allowing a deeper understanding of the microenvironment surrounding their phenotypes. In addition to handling large multiplexed 2D images, the new version enables researchers to obtain a comprehensive view of large image datasets, with millions of detected objects and unsupervised automatic clustering with up to 30 markers. Aivia 13 also provides a vast array of charts and spatial measurements, allowing for the collection of critical insights. Press release. 

Genomenon announced the first milestone in its journey to curate the human genome with the release of Mastermind 3.0, now including the clinical exome fully curated at the gene level. With this latest launch of its Mastermind Platform, Genomenon is delivering a comprehensive catalog of more than 9,000 gene-disease relationships across 5,500 genes with more being added each week. These curations, based on ClinGen recommendations, are useful to accelerate novel variant curation, especially in large panels, whole exomes (WES), and whole genomes (WGS). The company is the first to curate the clinical exome at the gene level based on ClinGen guidelines. Press release. 

QIAGEN and Element Biosciences announced a strategic partnership to offer comprehensive next-generation sequencing workflows for the AVITI System, an innovative sequencing platform based on Element's novel Avidity sequencing chemistry.  Press release. 

Fabric Genomics has entered a strategic collaboration with cloud-based data management pioneer DNAnexus to empower hospitals, clinical laboratories, and academic centers to rapidly access and analyze large-scale clinical whole genome data and bring vital clinical insights to patients. Through the partnership, Fabric Genomics will integrate its advanced genomic analysis tools and AI engine with the DNAnexus Precision Health Cloud, providing users with a push-button solution to move quickly from sample to evidence-backed analysis to actionable clinical reports. Press release. 

Generate:Biomedicines and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center announced a strategic collaboration to discover and develop chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T‑cell therapies, and armoring technologies, for up to three oncology targets, including in ovarian cancer and other solid tumors. In ovarian cancer alone, an estimated 314,000 women worldwide are diagnosed and over 200,000 women die each year. Under the collaboration agreement, Generate:Biomedicines and Roswell Park will contribute toward creating optimized cell therapies, where a patient’s T cells are engineered to recognize and kill tumors. Press release. 

Ionpath has launched its new service and data analysis tools for immuno-oncology applications in basic, translational, and clinical research. Ionpath’s single-cell, spatial proteomics service utilizes its multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI) technology, which uses mass spectrometry to query dozens of proteins with unmatched sensitivity and true subcellular resolution. Press release. 

Twist Bioscience Corporation has launched Twist Full Length Unique Dual Index Adapters to enable PCR-free whole genome sequencing (WGS) and multiplexing at scale. The new adapters include unique dual indexing (UDI) sequences, along with flow cell binding site and sequencing priming site, enabling NGS library preparation in a single ligation step and eliminating the need for PCR and amplification. This can streamline the library preparation workflow, reduce hands-on time, and also eliminate the sequence errors and artifacts potentially introduced during PCR amplification. Press release. 

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and 10x Genomics announced a new partnership to expand automation solutions for single cell assay workflows. As part of the agreement, 10x Genomics plans to develop dedicated Chromium Single Cell kits to be used on a Biomek i7 Automated Liquid Handler by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. This partnership is expected to automate the workflow after the Chromium instrument run is complete, focusing initially on high-throughput library preparation, to deliver a streamlined and more efficient solution for labs processing dozens of single cell samples at one time. Press release.