Stratos Genomics Receives $2 Million on Achievement of Sequencing Milestone

Published: Oct 09, 2012

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - October 09, 2012) -

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Stratos Genomics Inc today announced the closing of $2 million to support continued development and strategic discussions related to Stratos' ultra low cost method of DNA sequencing called "Sequencing by Expansion™" (SBX™).

The funding follows the successful demonstration of single molecule DNA sequencing of 36 base templates by SBX this past June.

"In the summer of 2009, we set 36 base sequencing as an initial milestone and after 3 years of intensive molecular engineering, this goal has been realized," Mark Kokoris, Stratos Genomics' CSO, said. "With the fundamentals mastered, we are moving into the system integration phase."

SBX™ is an efficient, low-cost DNA preparation method that rescales a DNA target into a longer surrogate polymer. This surrogate, called an Xpandomer™, encodes the sequence information in high signal-to-noise reporters. This rescaling enables high-fidelity, single molecule detection of long sequences using compact, low cost, nanopore instruments or other measurement technologies.

Xpandomers were synthesized using the company's development platform based on hexamer Xprobes™. The Xpandomers incorporated Stratos' proprietary method of coding for base identification, homopolymer differentiation, and sequence clocking using six highly-distinguished reporters. These reporters were easily differentiated by wild-type alpha hemolysin nanopores.

"Translating a 36-base DNA template into a single expanded molecule and then reading it with a nanopore is a remarkable achievement," Andre Marziali, Founder, President and CSO of Boreal Genomics, said. "The potential for the Stratos Genomics Xpandomer technology to impact DNA sequencing is exciting."

The new funding will support the development of libraries of smaller building blocks (dimers and monomers) and demonstrate sequencing lengths in excess of 100 bases by year-end. The funding came from existing shareholders and is an "up round" from last summer's financing.

"We started five years ago with an elegant concept," Allan Stephan, CEO, Stratos Genomics, said. "It took enormous effort and investors that never lost faith for SBX to become an elegant reality."

About Stratos Genomics Inc

Stratos Genomics' goal is to establish the next gold standard of DNA sequencing with its "Sequencing by Expansion™" (SBX™) method. SBX is a simple, elegant, single-molecule detection process that circumvents the limitations of competing technologies, allowing accurate, ultra-low-cost whole genome sequencing. Established in 2007, Stratos Genomics Inc. is a spin-off of Seattle-based Stratos Group LLC.

About Stratos Group LLC

Stratos Group is dedicated to the conversion of science and technology into commercial solutions for the advancement of mankind and the protection of the environment. Also under the Stratos Group umbrella is Stratos Product Development LLC. Stratos Product Development LLC is a world leader in innovation and high tech product development services.