febit holding GmbH and Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced that they have entered into a strategic co-marketing agreement to provide a new, scalable solution for researchers conducting targeted re-sequencing studies. In addition, febit will expand its Genomic Services Facility at Heidelberg by adding several Applied Biosystems SOLiD™ high-throughput sequencing systems and real-time PCR systems. Applied Biosystems is a brand of Life Technologies. As part of the agreement, febit is a member of both the SOLiD System and TaqMan Service Provider Programs. These programs are intended to provide the scientific community with broad access to a comprehensive solution for genomic research using next-generation sequencing.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to combine HybSelect with the SOLiD System,” said Peer Staehler, chief scientific officer of febit. “Our next generation sequencing facility will take the lead in targeted sequencing of more than 1,000 samples per week. Our unique strength is the capability to go from tailor-made target sequence capture to sequencing results in days, both for customers and our own internal development programs.”
“The SOLiD System has greatly reduced the time, cost and effort to perform genetic variation studies,” said Shaf Yousaf, president of genomics analysis, Life Technologies. “The joint effort between Life Technologies and febit will close a gap for highly efficient and accurate re-sequencing of genomic loci that are possibly correlated with disease.”
The febit facility aims to process more than 1,000 samples per week once fully operational. Similar facilities are envisioned to be installed at dedicated customer labs to meet the demand for high sample throughput.
The febit HybSelect™ Sequence Capture solution combines the advantages of microarray-based enrichment with patent protected microfluidic technology and runs on dedicated, highly automated instruments. Eight segregated arrays within a single microfluidic biochip allow for parallel, hands-off processing of samples.
Large scale studies to identify SNPs, mutations and new biomarkers can be conducted now with many patient samples to receive statistically relevant data. This will lead to a better understanding of the development, progression and prognosis of complex diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, infections and many others, ultimately resulting in new therapies and diagnostics. Among the key applications of the combined system are the cancer exome, disease-related loci with high relevance for healthcare and drug development purposes and areas identified through genome-wide association studies.
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