RainDance Technologies enters into strategic agreement with Applied Biosystems

RainDance Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of innovative microdroplet-based solutions for human health and disease research, and Applied Biosystems, part of Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE), announced today they have entered into a strategic agreement to co-market the first solution that combines microdroplet PCR-based sequence enrichment with next-generation sequencing.

“By partnering with RainDance Technologies, we can provide scientists with a sequence enrichment solution that leverages the quality and accuracy of PCR, enabling studies of hundreds to thousands of samples — with the high degree of accuracy associated with SOLiD System technology”

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will co-market RainDance’s RDT 1000 Sequence Enrichment Solution with Applied Biosystems SOLiD^TM System, a next-generation high-throughput DNA analysis platform. The integration of the two technologies will enable researchers to perform highly efficient, large-scale targeted sequencing studies with the superior quality and accuracy of results associated with PCR-based DNA amplification. In addition, the companies will continue to collaborate on the application of RainDance products in the SOLiD System sequencing workflow.

“PCR is the gold standard for sequence enrichment and we’re pleased to provide a microdroplet PCR-based solution that works seamlessly with the SOLiD System,” said Christopher McNary, Chief Commercial Officer, RainDance Technologies. “Now researchers can perform high-resolution analysis of genetic variation by combining the high degree of sample uniformity and reduced selection bias of PCR-based enrichment with the greater accuracy, efficiency, and throughput of the SOLiD platform. Using RainDance Technologies, researchers will be able to detect substantially higher numbers of variants in the targeted sequences than have been demonstrated with alternative approaches using less precise capture methods,” McNary said.

“By partnering with RainDance Technologies, we can provide scientists with a sequence enrichment solution that leverages the quality and accuracy of PCR, enabling studies of hundreds to thousands of samples — with the high degree of accuracy associated with SOLiD System technology,” said Shaf Yousaf, President, Genomic Analysis, Life Technologies.

TGEN Validates RainDance-SOLiD Solution

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN) of Phoenix, Arizona, was among the first to couple the RainDance Sequence Enrichment Solution with ABI’s SOLiD sequencing technology. TGEN utilized the integrated workflow to identify root cause mutations in disease candidate genes and pathways.

“The RainDance and SOLiD technology worked smoothly and offered superb coverage and accuracy,” said John Carpten, Ph.D., Senior Investigator and Director, Integrated Cancer Genomics Division, TGEN. Dr. Carpten’s work is focused in search of germline variants associated with cancer risk, and somatic mutations occurring in both solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

“We have successfully interrogated specific regions of the genome and identified novel somatic mutations in normal/tumor pairs within a relatively short period of time. We are looking forward to expanding our use of both the RainDance and SOLiD platforms to other large-scale resequencing projects,” said Dr. Carpten. “Our hope is that these tools will allow us to efficiently interrogate specific regions of the cancer genome, which in turn will ultimately lead to an increased understanding of cancer development. Our ultimate hope is translation of these findings for improved patient care.”