Applied Biosystems and BioTrove, Inc. to collaborate on integrated platform for high throughput genotyping

Applied Biosystems, an Applera Corporation business, today announced that it has signed a licensing and collaboration agreement with BioTrove, Inc. to commercialise an analysis platform for high throughput genotyping applications. Applied Biosystems will develop and market custom-built arrays of TaqMan^® SNP Genotyping Assays pre-loaded on BioTrove’s OpenArray™ platform. This platform will integrate the ease-of-use, accuracy and reproducibility of Applied Biosystems’ TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays with BioTrove’s flexible high density assay format, enabling researchers to rapidly perform high throughput genotyping studies at a lower total cost compared to alternative commercially available methods.

Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Biosystems retains the rights to commercialise all genotyping applications, including assays other than ones based on TaqMan technology, for BioTrove’s platform. Applied Biosystems plans to commercialise and service all components of this analysis platform during the second half of 2008. Applied Biosystems is also retaining an option to collaborate with BioTrove, Inc. for developing and commercialising the OpenArray platform for high throughput gene expression applications.

In a separate agreement, Applied Biosystems has granted a worldwide license under patent rights related to real-time thermal cyclers, microfluidics, and data analysis to BioTrove, Inc. Under the agreement, BioTrove will have the right to manufacture and sell real-time thermal cyclers and array sample loaders in the life sciences research field, as well as to develop further real-time PCR applications for its OpenArray platform. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
Overall, this collaboration is expected to expand the potential uses of TaqMan technology across a wide range of genomic applications. The genotyping platform provides an extremely fast, high throughput screening and validation tool for researchers in agricultural, pharmaceutical and other commercial industries, as well as academic institutions. Examples of studies that should benefit from the use of this platform include those that associate genotypes with complex diseases, varied responses of individuals to different treatments for disease, measurable traits for quality control in agricultural studies, and the identity of different pathogens in biosecurity applications.

When pre-loaded with TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays, BioTrove’s OpenArray platform enables researchers to perform genotyping studies that investigate tens to hundreds of single base changes, or SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) across hundreds to thousands of samples. This scale of genotyping study is often performed as part of breeding and quality control processes in the agricultural industry. In these applications, researchers investigate how SNPs from multiple genes contribute to measurable traits. These SNPs are then used as genetic markers for quality control testing, tracking, or selective breeding of crops and livestock. Alternatively, large scale disease association studies can involve over 10,000 to 20,000 samples and also require high sample throughput technology to ensure efficient genotyping across candidate SNPs.

Researchers using this integrated platform can experience an end-to-end genotyping workflow of less than four hours, enabling them to analyse thousands of samples in days in contrast to weeks on alternative genotyping platforms. As the OpenArray platform consumes less reagent per assay (33 nl per reaction) than current alternative commercially available offerings, applications can be performed in a more cost-effective manner.

“We believe that customers in industries such as health care, food and agriculture will benefit from a cost-effective, flexible genotyping solution that combines Applied Biosystems’ gold-standard TaqMan assay products with BioTrove’s flexible high throughput OpenArray platform,” said Peter Dansky, president for Applied Biosystems’ molecular and cell biology consumables business. “This collaboration will provide researchers and commercial organisations with a validation and screening tool that has the potential to dramatically improve genotyping workflows critical to the success of their enterprise.”

The razor-thin BioTrove OpenArray consumable device has a flexible array format that enables researchers to perform more than 3,000 different high throughput genotyping assays in a variety of different configurations. For example, using one OpenArray slide, researchers can genotype as many as 144 samples, and interrogate 16 SNPs per sample or, in a single sample, interrogate as many as 3,072 SNPs.

The OpenArray platform will provide researchers with customised arrays of TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays from a single source, simplifying their workflow for performing a variety of high throughput genotyping applications. Researchers will be able to select assays from Applied Biosystems’ comprehensive line of more than 4.5 million individual pre-designed TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays, Custom TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays or TaqMan DME Genotyping Assays for detecting polymorphisms in the drug metabolism enzyme genes. Once customers receive their assays pre-loaded on BioTrove’s OpenArray consumable devices, they will then use an automated sample loader to introduce their DNA samples into the arrays. After a short processing time, the OpenArray slides are read by the accompanying software to determine sample genotype.

“The strength of the product design resulting from this collaboration provides researchers in public and private industries with the speed, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of the BioTrove OpenArray platform and the specificity and reproducibility of Applied Biosystems’ comprehensive line of TaqMan assay products – all in a single solution,” said Al Luderer PhD, president and CEO of BioTrove, Inc. “By streamlining researchers’ genotyping workflows, we are accelerating the discovery and utilisation of science impacting public health – from healthier foods to better health care.”