Ultima Genomics (Ultima) has entered into an agreement with Genome Insight to offer affordable whole genome sequencing solutions to cancer patients.
Under the agreement, Genome Insight will become part of the early access programme for Ultima’s high-throughput NGS instrument platform called UG 100.
The company will engage in the development of an enhanced version of its whole genome bioinformatics solution for use with Ultima’s sequencing technology.
Genome Insight CEO Young Seok Ju said: “The ability to analyse the entire genome at a low cost is a game-changer in cancer treatment, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this revolution.
“This collaboration is an important step towards our vision of using whole genome sequencing to improve patient outcomes.”
Conventional NGS approaches utilise targeted panels that can assess only a small fraction of the information related to the genome alterations.
Genome Insight’s bioinformatics platform provides meaningful insights into a cancer patient’s genome to support the formulation of a treatment strategy tailored to each patient.
The collaboration seeks to bring together Ultima’s low-cost sequencing and Genome Insight’s advanced bioinformatics to provide affordable whole genome sequencing for cancer patients.
The optimised bioinformatics platform incorporated in Ultima’s sequencing architecture will provide curated whole genome sequencing reports to patients and physicians at a more affordable cost than conventional NGS panels.
Ultima Genomics CEO Gilad Almogy said: “We founded Ultima Genomics to help overcome the tradeoffs scientists and clinicians are forced to make between the breadth, depth and frequency with which they use genomic information.
“Genome Insight’s focus on whole genome sequencing is a perfect example of this, and we are excited to collaborate on this development.”
