Pleasanton, CA, USA, October 9, 2014 / B3C newswire / - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today it made a technology acquisition from AbVitro Inc, a company focused on therapeutic target discovery. Roche obtained exclusive rights to a primer extension based target enrichment technology and associated patent applications filed by AbVitro. Under the terms of the agreement, AbVitro and Roche scientists will collaborate on the development and application of the technology.
The primer extension based target enrichment (PETE) technology will be used to support next-generation sequencing directly from blood or other biological samples, a key advantage for clinical sequencing applications. This PETE technology, will be incorporated into Roche’s Sequencing Unit R&D pipeline to support the strategy of providing a full next-generation sequencing workflow solution for clinical sequencing.
“The potential of this technology will allow Roche to optimize our sequencing portfolio to provide a full workflow solution for our customers,” said Dan Zabrowski, Head of Roche Tissue Diagnostics and the Sequencing Unit. “Sequencing is transforming the understanding among researchers and clinicians of how genomics will impact health. We look forward to advancing this technology in order to streamline sequencing methods for easy-to-use clinical applications.”
“We are excited by Roche’s acquisition of our primer extension based target enrichment and the prospect of continued collaboration to develop the technology further. This technology surpasses current industry standards and we believe Roche to be incredibly well positioned to create a true disruption in the next-generation sample prep market,” said Dr. Francois Vigneault, President, CSO & Founder at AbVitro. “It is wonderful to see another potentially transformative sequencing technology transition into Roche where it can impact our daily lives,” said Dr. George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Founder of AbVitro.
Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
For more information about Roche Sequencing, please visit www.roche-sequencing.com
About AbVitro
AbVitro is a therapeutic target discovery company, with a unique technology platform that leverages natural immune responses to address diseases with unmet medical needs. Based on technology developed by the visionary George Church at Harvard Medical School, AbVitro’s technology allows for the identification of complete, natively paired B cell antibodies and T cell receptors across millions of single cells at unprecedented resolution. This high-throughput single-cell immune sequencing technology is then used to identify novel therapeutic targets and antibodies to cancer and autoimmune diseases.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organisation Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy. In 2013 the Roche Group employed over 85,000 people worldwide, invested 8.7 billion Swiss francs in R&D and posted sales of 46.8 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com. All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.
For further information please contact:
Roche Sequencing
Beth Button
Phone: +1 317 847 5172
Email : beth.button@roche.com
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