Benzinga | Feb 18, 2021 09:15AM EST

Twist Bioscience Reports Collaboration With Victorian Clinical Genetic Services On Development Of Novel Whole Exome Capture Diagnostic Assay

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, and Victorian Clinical Genetic Services (VCGS), an Australian-based specialist provider of prenatal, childhood and adult genetics services, today announced that together they have developed a novel whole exome capture assay. The assay, which utilizes Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to conduct analysis and sequencing of the entire exome, has been designed to maximize clinical utility, particularly for diagnostics and carrier screening. It will be used to help inform clinical management decisions for patients and their families.

The assay was developed by combining Twist's Human Comprehensive Exome with customized and validated inherited and rare disease content from VCGS, with a specific focus on minimizing gaps in clinically relevant genes and transcripts. In particular, the assay can target difficult to cover, non-coding regions outside the normal exome that are known to contain pathogenic variants, resulting in high-quality actionable data for clinicians. The assay also allows for reanalysis of data when new disease-causing genes are discovered. VCGS is accredited by Australian authorities to use this assay as an in vitro diagnostic product.

"Our collaboration with Twist has provided us with a unique whole exome analysis solution that provides comprehensive and consistent high quality results in all clinically relevant regions. The uniformity of coverage achieved using the Twist approach means there are fewer gaps in clinically relevant data, providing a high quality, high value service for our customers," said Sebastian Lunke, Ph.D., head of the Division of Genetics and Genomics at VCGS and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. "Another key advantage is the assay's flexibility, as it enables both processing of single samples or larger batches which allows us to accommodate urgent clinical samples."

"As one of the largest providers of genetic services in Australia, VCGS helps families identify the potential cause of diseases, often at the prenatal stage. We are pleased to enable this specific and important screening for VCGS," said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience.