Thermo Fisher Scientific in pact with Cynvenio Biosystems

To distribute LiquidBiopsy platform

Thermo Fisher Scientific has signed an agreement with Cynvenio Biosystems, a molecular testing company focused on the genomic analysis of tumour biomarkers in the bloodstream, for rights to distribute its LiquidBiopsy platform.

The addition of Cynvenio’s rare cell enrichment technology complements Thermo Fisher’s Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) workflow and positions the company as the only one in the industry to offer a comprehensive sample-to-genomic data solution for research using a single blood draw for analysis of circulating tumour cells (CTC), cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and normal DNA in less than 48 hours. The workflow enables researchers to conduct highly multiplexed analyses on serially collected blood samples.

The molecular analysis of CTCs and cfDNA that are released into the bloodstream offers a promising new research tool to aid in the development of future solutions for early cancer detection and therapy selection without the need for a tumour tissue biopsy. Studies have shown that serial monitoring of molecularly profiled CTCs and cfDNA both during and after therapy holds great potential to better understand the mechanisms of therapy response and tumour recurrence. Alternative methods include tissue biopsies, which are costly, highly invasive and vary in the amount of sample that can be retrieved.

The automated LiquidBiopsy platform is designed to efficiently extract and isolate CTCs from a standard blood draw in preparation for both high content imaging and genomic analysis. The high CTC purity rate, in conjunction with the Ion Torrent PGM’s capability to accurately sequence as little as 10ng of DNA, enables highly multiplexed interrogation on one Ion 318 sequencing chip from a single blood sample. The workflow also incorporates the Ion Torrent Chef System for automated sample prep and the Ion Torrent AmpliSeq Cancer Hot Spot Panel v2, which targets about 2,800 specific gene mutations for sequencing prior to final analysis with the Ion Torrent Reporter software.