"ABI has a great sequencer and we have a great instrument to make it even more powerful, especially for high-throughput applications," Staehler explains. "What is also important to note is that while we are offering a new solution and service, we can also advise and work with companies that want to set up their own operations to replicate what we have been able to achieve at febit. So this is more than just a product/service offering but also something where we will be consulting with companies and helping them develop their workflows based on our successes in that regard."  

 

Although he couldn't name names, he says that febit has a few companies that have already approached it with strong interest in setting up systems in a manner similar to febit.  

 

"The SOLiD System has greatly reduced the time, cost and effort to perform genetic variation studies," says Shaf Yousaf, president of genomics analysis at Life Technologies. "The joint effort between Life Technologies and febit will close a gap for highly efficient and accurate resequencing of genomic loci that are possibly correlated with disease." 

 

Large-scale studies to identify SNPs, mutations and new biomarkers can be conducted now with many patient samples to receive statistically relevant data, the companies note. This will, they believe, lead to a better understanding of the development, progression and prognosis of complex diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, infections and many others, ultimately resulting in new therapies and diagnostics.   Among the key applications Life Technologies and febit foresee for the combined system are the cancer exome, disease-related loci with high relevance for healthcare and drug development purposes, and areas identified through genome-wide association studies. Staehler sees particular potential for this collaboration in reaching the pharma and biotech companies.

 

"That sector has actually been rather slow to move into sequencing and re-sequencing efforts," he says. "Some 85 percent of the organizations that have been doing this kind of work are in academia, but we are seeing a shift, and predict that the pharma sector will be very eager for these kinds of technologies and service offerings soon."