Specialty cancer diagnostics company Precipio Inc, New Haven, Conn, recently entered into an agreement with PerkinElmer, Waltham, Mass, to jointly offer Precipio’s mutation enrichment technology, termed ‘improved and complete enrichment coamplification at lower denaturation temperature polymerase chain reaction’ (ICE COLD PCR), together with PerkinElmer’s NextPrep-Mag cell-free DNA isolation kit, Janus G3 liquid-handling workstation, and Chemagic MSM I, Chemagic 360, and Chemagic Prime platforms.
The agreement involves collaborative commercial efforts that include joint development and implementation of promotional materials, instructions for use, product-supported development of scientific white papers and posters, reciprocal sales and customer training, and exhibits at trade shows and scientific conferences.
Together, Precipio and PerkinElmer can provide a simple, reliable, automated cell-free DNA analysis workflow alongside a cutting-edge mutation enrichment technology, ICE COLD PCR, that will enable laboratories to efficiently use these technologies to support liquid biopsy testing.
ICE COLD PCR is a non-allele specific mutation enrichment technology developed at the Dana Farber Institute and licensed exclusively to Precipio. Highly flexible, it can be used on any downstream DNA sequencing platform, and on any type of patient sample.
Arvind Kothandaraman, PerkinElmer.
The multiplexed technology offers significant advantages over current sequencing technologies. It delivers at least a 500-fold improvement in sensitivity compared to standard methods, enabling detection levels as low as 0.1% on plasma (blood) samples. Also, its ultrahigh sensitivity allows comprehensive genomic analyses using liquid biopsies at a fraction of the cost of competing assays.
“We expect the combination of these products to provide unique value in an optimized sample-to-answer workflow for laboratories and clinical researchers that offer liquid biopsy assays,” says Arvind Kothandaraman, director of PerkinElmer’s applied genomics product line. “Our NextPrep-Mag cfDNA kits enable fast and efficient cell-free DNA extraction manually or automated on Chemagic nucleic acid isolation instruments. This complements Precipio’s ICE COLD PCR mutation enrichment well, enabling users to accelerate liquid biopsy testing and research.”
Stephen Miller, Precipio.
Additionally, the use of robust high-resolution melt technology as a screening tool after enrichment with ICE COLD PCR enables researchers to quickly and effectively rule out samples that are negative for a genetic mutation in the region of interest. Obtaining that information through a quick and simple up-front step potentially eliminates the need to perform more complex and costly genetic mutation detection using techniques such as next-generation sequencing, significantly reducing costs and cutting turnaround time to hours instead of weeks.
“With PerkinElmer’s global reach, we expect the success of ICP’s global market introduction to be significantly enhanced through this collaboration,” says Stephen Miller, Precipio’s chief commercial officer. “Such strategic partnerships represent critical milestones in our plan for widespread adoption of our ICP-based testing products.”
For more information, visit Precipio.
Featured image: The ICE COLD PCR kit by Precipio.
