Akonni and Seegene Enter Into Licensing Agreement
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Akonni Biosystems and Seegene Inc. have announced that they have entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement to develop both point-of-care and ultra-high throughput diagnostic screening assays capable of simultaneously detecting, from a single patient sample, a wide variety of infectious pathogens known to cause respiratory disease.
The agreement brings together two novel technologies, Seegene's Dual Priming Oligo (DPO™) multiplex PCR technology and Akonni's TruArray® gel-drop microarray technology, that will ultimately reduce the cost of genetic testing.
This powerful technology combination will bring rapid, highly sensitive and specific genetic testing to a broader range of clinical facilities, many of which until today have been unable to transition to more advanced molecular methods due to the high cost of existing approaches.
The benefits resulting from the combined technologies will be more comprehensive and faster patient diagnosis, more timely delivery of appropriate treatments, a more streamlined workflow including end-to-end sample extraction through detection, and a significant reduction in overall assay and healthcare costs.
In a joint announcement, Dr. Jong Yoon Chun, Chief Executive Officer of Seegene, and Dr. Charles Daitch, Chief Executive Officer of Akonni, stated, "Through this agreement, Akonni will be positioned to increase the sensitivity and specificity of its TruArray products by integrating Seegene's multiplex DPO technology into its workflow. In combination with Akonni's patented TruArray microarray and low-cost methodology for manufacturing them, the diagnostic tests developed will provide clinical laboratories with a novel approach that is capable of detecting a broader spectrum of infections with unparalleled accuracy and speed at a lower overall cost."
TruArray is based on technology first developed at Argonne National Laboratory and the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, and utilizes gel-drop microarrays specifically optimized for medical applications.
Supported by a series of substantial government grants and contracts from NIH, CDC, DOE, DOD, NIJ, and NSF, Akonni has significantly advanced the original technology by improving overall system-wide capabilities, from sample preparation to final result.
TruArray tests are designed to run on Akonni's TruDx™ systems for point of care or its TruSentry™ system for multiplex genetic testing of up to 3,000 samples per day. When combined with TruTip™, Akonni's currently available product line for ultra-rapid extraction, clinical laboratories will further reduce the costs and time associated with detecting infectious pathogens.
Seegene's Dual Priming Oligo (DPO) is a breakthrough multiplexing PCR technology that enables a new standard in simultaneous multi-pathogen detection. It also provides substantial testing accuracy and efficiency in detection of SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and mutations related to cancer or drug resistance.
