Roche and Caliper to Offer Automated Target Enrichment for Next-Generation Sequencing

Roche and Caliper Life Sciences entered into a co-marketing agreement for the development and optimization of automated protocols for the NimbleGen SeqCap EZ library solution-based capture method for Caliper’s Sciclone NGS Workstation. The aim is to simplify high-throughput targeted resequencing workflows by developing automated methods for sequencing library preparation and enrichment of target regions, quantification, and quality control.

“The continued exponential growth of sequencing throughput and the volume of samples to be analyzed has shifted the bottleneck to sample preparation and process control,” points out Frank Pitzer, Ph.D., CEO of Roche NimbleGen. “By combining our solutions with Caliper’s NGS workstation, the bottlenecks are eliminated, creating the capacity to analyze large cohorts and optimize research efforts.”

Kevin Hrusovsky, president and CEO of Caliper, adds, “Caliper’s Sciclone NGS Workstation significantly accelerates high-throughput sequencing sample preparation and enrichment for numerous sequencing chemistries and workflows. Together Caliper and Roche NimbleGen are developing targeted sequencing applications that enable studies that analyze variants across large populations to detect and better understand the causal agents of disease.”