Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc and Cepheid announced a strategic collaboration to develop and commercialise a seamless end-to-end workflow to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases. The two companies have completed a successful proof-of-concept study which demonstrated the feasibility of using Cepheid's cartridge-based GeneXpert system for sample and library preparation in a workflow with Oxford Nanopore's molecular analysis platform. The positive results from the proof-of-concept have paved the way for the strategic collaboration to develop and launch a joint Research Use Only (RUO) workflow that will enable customers to leverage rapid, information-rich sequencing in-house for infectious disease analysis, returning results within hours instead of days.
The collaboration is intended to deliver a scalable, automated, end-to-end solution for simplified nanopore-based sequencing workflows for use within a range of settings, including labs that have previously not had the expertise to conduct sequencing in-house. The initial application of the workflow will focus on infectious disease, specifically the profiling of bacterial and fungal pathogens using whole genome sequencing first from culture isolates and eventually directly from positive blood cultures. The collaboration has the potential to expand into additional infectious disease use cases, other areas such as cancer and human genetics, and eventually regulatory approved clinical diagnostics.
The joint workflow will be compatible with a range of third-party informatics tools including Oxford Nanopore's EPI2ME, and other informatic solutions that are part of Oxford Nanopore's compatible provider network. Cepheid will also complement the joint workflow by directly offering an informatics solution, which they will commercialise by way of a license from a leading industry player.
