New Products

German molecular diagnostics company Biotype has upgraded its Modaplex benchtop diagnostics platform, which was first launched in September of this year. The new version has simplified software for automated data analysis for the detection and quantification of cancer-related RNA and DNA biomarkers. Modaplex is an open system, enabling third parties such as molecular test manufacturers or pharmaceutical firms to develop and market their own assays for the platform.

German genetic diagnostics company CeGaT has launched version 5.0 of its ExomeXtra exome diagnostic test. The new version integrates a backbone for the genome-wide detection of copy number variants. It also includes all protein-coding regions of the genome, clinically relevant RNA genes, more than 38,000 intergenic and intronic positions associated with genetic diseases, the mitochondrial genome, and pharmacogenomic variants in selected genes. The company sequences the exome at 100X-120X coverage.

Liquid biopsy company Angle has launched the Portrait PD-L1 test for the evaluation of PD-L1 expression on circulating tumor cells. The company is providing the test as a service from its Onc-Adapt GCP-compliant laboratories. Using the company's Parsortix CTC technology, the new assay service features sample stability up to five days post-collection; biomarker-independent harvesting of phenotypically diverse CTCs from a blood sample; identification and enumeration of CTS with accurate assessment of PD-L1 status; and longitudinal monitoring of PD-L1 status over multiple time points including before, during, and after patient treatment, the company said.

Veda Bio, a San Diego-based developer of multiplexed CRISPR-based molecular detection technology, has formed its scientific advisory board comprising Rashid Bashir, Daniel Durocher, Patrick Hsu, and David Perlin.

Bashir is a company cofounder and was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He has held numerous roles at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, currently serving as the dean of the Grainger College of Engineering and Grainger distinguished chair in bioengineering.

Durocher is chair of VedaBio's SAB and currently serves as senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, cofounder and SAB member of Repare Therapeutics, and cofounder of Induxion Therapeutics. He is also a full professor at the University of Toronto.

Hsu is cofounder of the Arc Institute and assistant professor of bioengineering and a faculty fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, he served as principal investigator at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Perlin currently serves as CSO and executive VP at Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation.

VedaBio launched last month with $40 million in Series A financing.

EnGenome has released VarChat, a generative artificial intelligence system to review the literature about genetic variants. The tool, which is available for free, has been designed to search and condense the available scientific literature for each variant and deliver it as a brief and informative text.

Quest Diagnostics has launched its Quest Mobile mobile phlebotomy service, allowing customers to schedule blood draws or other specimen collections at their location and have their specimen transported to a Quest patient service center. The service is available in 44 states and costs $55.

Lucid Diagnostics' CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified lab, LucidDx Labs, has launched the next generation of the EsoGuard Esophageal DNA test for detecting esophageal precancer. All commercial and research samples received by the lab will be processed with the updated test. According to Lucid Chairman and CEO Lishan Aklog, the new test improves upon the older version by enhancing DNA yield and streamlining downstream processes with advanced molecular techniques and improved bioinformatics. The EsoGuard assay extracts DNA from esophageal cells collected via the EsoCheck Cell Collection Device. Bisulfate conversion is performed on the DNA, tagging sites that are not methylated. The VIM and CCNA1 genes, which have 31 methylation sites that correlate with esophageal precancer and cancer, are amplified by PCR and then sequenced. Bioinformatics software is used to analyze the DNA sequence data and determine the proportion of the 31 target sites that are methylated, resulting in a positive or negative test result. The updated test uses multiplexing, compared to a single-plex technique with the original test, allowing labs to run the assay three times and call positive and negative results by consensus, Lucid noted.

SPT Labtech has launched a new version of its Firefly all-in-one genomics liquid-handling platform with features to address bottlenecks in next-generation sequecning library preparation for laboratory-developed tests. The new platform includes updated software that is intended to improve instrument access and use and a compact design that is meant to minimize the instrument's footprint.

Bio-Rad Laboratories has adapted the cardiac assay control in its Cardiac Advance line to be compatible with Beckman-Coulter instruments. The control is optimized with Troponin I and T targets near the limit of instrument detection. It is available as a standard Liquicheck human serum-based control as well as automation ready InteliQ and compact vial configurations, and is also compatible with platforms from Siemens and Roche.

Becton Dickenson has launched the PIVO Pro Needle-free Blood Collection Device. The PIVO Pro combined with BD's Nexiva with NearPort IV Access products is designed to help improve clinician efficiency and patient experience with the goal of reducing the number of needlesticks required per hospital stay.