Biotechnology firm Illumina and genomics company GenoScreen have introduced a new package that combines products from Illumina with the GenoScreen Deeplex Myc-TB assay, a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based test for Tuberculosis (TB).
As a targeted NGS-based test, the Deeplex Myc-TB assay enables quick and broad identification of anti-TB drug resistance.
Developed and manufactured by GenoScreen since 2019, the assay uses a culture-free approach to detect TB mycobacteria, as well as more than 100 non-TB mycobacterial species.
The test uses primary respiratory samples and can also help predict resistance to 15 antibiotics within 24 to 48 hours.
Users can easily interpret the results and choose the next steps with the Deeplex web application, which provides automated analysis of the sequencing data.
The new test has been launched as part of a partnership that was formed between the two companies last year and aims to end TB across the world.
The partnership is anticipated to expand capabilities for the countries most affected by TB, as well as across Africa.
Illumina chief medical officer Phil Febbo said: “Through our partnership, we will enable lower-income countries to confront the pervasive threat of TB and work toward eliminating it.
“The Covid-19 pandemic response led to expanded NGS capacity around the world, so now institutions have the platforms needed to support testing for TB drug resistance and improve survival for patients with TB, the leading infectious disease killer prior to Covid.”
The test is anticipated to accelerate the World Health Organization’s (WHO) strategy to eradicate the global TB epidemic by 2035.
Joint use of the Deeplex assay and NGS platforms from Illumina will allow extensive drug resistance profiles and TB strain types to be determined much more quickly.
