Novogene has revealed that it is entering into a deal with TrovaGene Inc (NASDAQ:TROV), a firm focusing on precision medicine biotechnology with a view to acquiring NextCollect, a proprietary device for nucleic acid preservation and urine collection. Besides selling Nextcollect to Novogene, Trovagene will also sell reagents and methods of extracting from urine cell-free DNA. Novogene’s intention is validate the methods of urine DNA extraction at its facilities such as the lab located in Tianjin, China.
Research purposes
Nextcollect is mainly used for research by genomics laboratories, clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical firms. Its main purpose is the preservation of urinary DNA in transplantation, urology, infectious disease and oncology. With Nextcollect a urine sample weighing up to 200 milliliters is stabilized for a period of 14 days at room temperature. When it is used with the nucleic acid isolation techniques of Trovagene, Nextcollect allows for significant improvement in the quantity and quality of DNA that gets isolated from urine.
“We are excited to partner with Novogene, who is now the largest genomics service provider in the world. This agreement enables Trovagene to leverage Novogene’s large next-generation sequencing capacity and bioinformatic services in China,” said Trovagene’s Chief Executive Officer, Bill Welch.
Chinese market
The corporate development senior vice president at Novogene, David Jiang, also expressed delight at working with Trovagene while adding that they intended to develop for the market in China urine-based tests once the technology has been validated. The initial Nextcollect shipments are slated for later this month and this is expected to support the partnership with Novogene besides also supporting the biomarker testing deals that already exist between Trovagene and other pharmaceutical firms such as AstraZeneca.
As one of the leading providers of genomic solutions and services, Novogene employs over 1,300 people in various locations across the globe. The genomics firm currently possesses 49 next-generation sequencing patents and has published its findings in more than 240 journals including highly respected journals such as Science and Nature. Currently Novogene has the biggest sequencing capacity anywhere in the world.
