QIAGEN and Seegene collaborate on multiplex assay panels

QIAGEN and Seegene have announced a collaboration which will see the latter develop a menu of multiplex assay panels for the former’s modular QIAsymphony RGQ MDx automation platform. The first project is to develop comprehensive panels to profile infectious diseases.

Seegene’s proprietary technologies for multiplexed real-time PCR analysis enable simultaneous amplification of up to 20 target genes per tube in a single reaction. Founder and CEO Dr Jong-Yoon Chun said the company’s “breakthrough MuDT technology enables detection and quantification of multiple target genes in a single channel without melt curve analysis”, making it “true next-generation qPCR technology”.

QIAGEN will validate the new tests to run on QIAsymphony — its flagship automation solution which integrates a molecular laboratory’s workflow from initial biological sample processing to final insights — and will market them worldwide as QIAGEN-branded assays, beginning in Europe and Asia. Thierry Bernard, senior vice president and head of the molecular diagnostics business area of QIAGEN, said the tests will be “highly synergistic” with QIAsymphony’s current menu.