Bioserve and DNAPrint^® Genomics Form Strategic Alliance to Provide Clinical Patient Samples Tagged with Genetic Ancestry Data

BioServe today announced the formation of strategic alliance with DNAPrint^® Genomics, Inc. to provide biomedical researchers with clinical DNA samples that for the first time will include genetic ancestry data for each sample. With the added dimension of ancestry information to clinical samples, medical researchers will be able to determine whether certain biological markers are artifacts of genetic ancestry or are true markers for a disease or drug response in a disease. To create the genetic ancestry data, DNAPrint^® Genomics will analyze and categorize BioServe’s Global Repository^® of nearly 600,000 human biological samples using its ANCESTRYbyDNA™ validated genetic ancestry test.

“Our relationship with BioServe is highly synergistic. Both companies believe that any epidemiological program will be more productive with access to high quality validated clinical samples that have been effectively categorized across a validated genetic ancestry platform,” said Richard Gabriel, CEO and President of DNAPrint^® Genomics. “By removing the question of ancestry from a clinical sample researchers can more readily evaluate which medicines will produce side effects within certain ethnic groups, and which medicines will work for the widest spectrum of a population.”

“Through this partnership with DNAPrint Genomics we can provide the medical research community with the best defined clinical sample set in the world,” said Dr. Kevin Krenitsky, CEO of BioServe. “Additionally, we are able to uniquely support the application of our samples with services that include sample extraction and preparation, genotyping, and gene expression. Now that we are able to add the genetic ancestry component to our samples, a new layer of sample data quality and analysis can be provided that was not previously available to researchers.”

Both companies are also capable of providing genotyping services, and between the two companies the following platforms are available: Beckman Ultra High Throughput SNP Platform, Illumina SNP Golden Gate, and Sequenom iPLEX. In addition, several gene RNA expression analysis platforms are available including Differential Expression Pattern Display Technology which has an RNA expression sensitivity 10 to 100 times greater than either of Affymetrix or Illumina gene expression profile technologies.