NuGEN Technologies, Inc. and Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. announced a co-marketing agreement for the development of automated methods for next generation sequencing sample preparation on Caliper's Sciclone NGS Workstation. The collaboration aims to enable researchers to leverage NuGEN's Ovation and Encore reagent solutions on Caliper's liquid handling platforms to automate the processing of a wide range of sample types such as nucleic acids extracted from sorted cells, fine needle aspirates, Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissue, and other limited and compromised clinical samples.

Under this agreement, Caliper and NuGEN will first co-develop automation scripts for NuGEN's Ovation RNA-Seq System and Encore NGS Multiplex System I on Caliper's Sciclone NGS Workstation to provide end-to-end, high throughput library construction from as little as 500 pg of total RNA. The automation solution is scheduled to be available before the end of March 2011. The Sciclone NGS Workstation can be integrated with Caliper's LabChip GX, which is an analytical QC platform, and the LabChip XT, a preparative nucleic acid fractionation platform, for extended hands-off automation. Additional applications will follow.

“NuGEN's Ovation RNA-Seq System is the first RNA-Seq preparation kit without any requirement for poly selection or ribosomal RNA depletion,” said Elizabeth Hutt, CEO of NuGEN Technologies. “Working from total RNA reduces the bias inherent in the selection steps, and results in a more complete data set and a more comprehensive understanding of the transcriptome including non-coding RNAs. Our sample preparation capabilities nicely complement Caliper's Sciclone NGS Workstation to provide our customers with a streamlined workflow and easy access to the most advanced sample preparation technologies.”

“Caliper's Sciclone NGS Workstation significantly accelerates high throughput amplification, fragmentation, and library preparation, removing sample preparation bottlenecks in sequencing workflows,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, president and CEO of Caliper Life Sciences. “Together Caliper and NuGEN are developing a scalable solution for producing high quality libraries for a wide range of sequencing applications, including RNA-Seq, digital gene expression, whole genome and exome sequencing, and other applications.”

NuGEN and Caliper will present the Sciclone NGS Workstation and NuGEN methods at the 2011 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference, February 2 - 5 in Marco Island, Florida.

NuGEN provides revolutionary RNA and DNA sample preparation technologies that enable life scientists to do more with less. With innovative reagent solutions that are quick and easy to use, NuGEN empowers researchers to prepare genomic samples of any size, from almost any source, regardless of the intended application or technology platform. Committed to advancing the life sciences, NuGEN ensures robust and reproducible results for researchers seeking to predict disease risk and drug response, potentially shortening the path to treatment.

Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies enabling researchers in the life sciences industry to create life-saving and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more quickly and efficiently and is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge the gap between in vitro assays and in vivo results, enabling the translation of those results into cures for human disease.