Gene team
When Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) launched its Collab Network in February 2023, the goal was to speed up the pace of genomics innovation through collaboration.
We strongly believed that bringing researchers and industry leaders together to foster learning and teamwork would yield innovations that members of this network might not have achieved on their own –and that those inventions would progress through development much faster than they would have without this team approach.
Two years into this effort, we’re already realising the benefits of collaboration in the ongoing effort to accelerate genomics innovation. This is especially clear in two areas that the Collab Network is focusing on: next generation sequencing (NGS) and gene editing.
While much of the progress we’re making is resulting in new tools for researchers engaged in early discovery efforts, we remain motivated by the potential benefit this teamwork will offer to future patients: new technology that streamlines basic research that will speed up the development of potential cures.
Improving next generation sequencing workflows
Some of IDT’s partnerships with Collab Network members are already helping to optimise NGS workflows.
One of the founding members of the network is Ultima Genomics, which offers an NGS platform that uses open silicon wafers instead of traditional, closed flow cells as well as mostly natural flow chemistry to enable low-cost, high-throughput sequencing with superior single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variant calling accuracy. Just six months after launching the Collab Network, we co-developed adapters and primers compatible with Ulima’s platform – eliminating the previously used PCR step in the library prep workflow.
To demonstrate the value of this collaboration in the field of oncology research, IDT and Ultima tested our library prep kit for whole genome sequencing (WGS).
Our goal was to determine whether our combined technologies could identify mutation signatures in low quality formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor specimens and quantify minimal residual disease (MRD) from circulating DNA in plasma specimens with low tumor fractions.
We found that combining our technologies enabled scalable WGS by improving data quality and reducing the error rate for single-nucleotide substitutions.
Another IDT Collab Network founding member, Element Biosciences, is a provider of NGS and multi-omics technologies powered by their innovative avidite based chemistry (ABC). ABC enables PCR-free amplification, the separation of base detection from strand extension, and additional capabilities designed to improve results and lower run costs. In February 2024, we introduced a suite of adapters, universal blockers, and library amplification primer mixes that are compatible with Element’s technology and designed to reduce sequence errors.
Recently, we expanded our partnership with Element Biosciences to pair our high-quality adapters, NGS library prep, and exome panel with the Element Trinity flow cell and reagents to launch an on-instrument capture protocol for the Element AVITI and AVITI24 platforms. This novel approach greatly reduces manual workflow steps and hands-on-time, while delivering consistent, high-quality sequencing data.
IDT has also formed several collaborations beyond the Collab Network that are making complementary technologies easier to access for genomics researchers.
For example, in May 2024, we partnered with Molecular Health to pair our NGS research assays with Molecular Health’s variant annotation and reporting software. This helps make oncology labs more efficient by equipping cancer researchers with tertiary analysis for NGS data, which promises to accelerate cancer discoveries by streamlining data analysis.
As a Danaher operating company, IDT has the opportunity to collaborate with 10 other leaders in life sciences technology development that are also part of the Danaher network.
For example, Danaher company Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, which is also a member of the Collab Network, collaborates with IDT to develop applications for its NGS library prep system. This technology automates the process of constructing NGS libraries, reducing hands-on work, which in turn speeds up workflows and reduces errors.
Driving innovation in genome editing
Enabling improvements in gene editing technologies, including CRISPR, is also a priority for IDT. Our collaborative approach is centered around the ability to offer custom solutions to gene-editing innovators, including custom guide RNAs (gRNAs), HDR tools, and CRISPR safety support services.
In 2023, we partnered with another Danaher company, Aldevron. This partnership brings together IDT’s expertise in CRISPR reagents and gRNA manufacturing with Aldevron’s expertise in CGMP CRISPR and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) manufacturing to offer a single vendor solution and enable customers to translate their research breakthroughs to potential life-saving treatments.
Advancing CRISPR-based therapeutics is a priority in the biopharma industry, and collaborations among technology providers will be crucial for ensuring the safety of these new therapies.
Towards that end, IDT partnered with SeQure Dx in July 2024. Our combined technologies enable advanced off-target analysis services, improving the ability of CRISPR developers to sensitively quantify unintended effects, thus enhancing the safety of gene-edited therapeutics.
To fully realise the potential of gene editing to solve the world’s toughest diseases, we recognise that we must include academic experts in our efforts. In January 2024, an academic collaboration was formed between Danaher and the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), led by UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. Together we launched the Danaher-IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures.
The Beacon’s goal is to build platform technologies that will enable the development of gene-editing therapies for rare genetic disorders known as “inborn errors of immunity” (IEIs). We’re starting with two IEIs, and we hope to expand the technology we develop to potential new treatments for any of the estimated 500 IEIs.
These are just a few examples of how IDT is embracing collaboration in the quest to advance genomics innovations. It’s still early days, but we can clearly envision the benefits that the new technologies born from these alliances will offer: lowering the time and cost of development, bringing immense value to health care systems around the world, and accelerating the pace in which new cures are available to patients.
Demaris Mills is Vice President and Group Executive for the Genomic Medicines Group at Danaher, a global science and technology innovator
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