NuGEN Technologies, Inc., a market leader in the development of solutions for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) applications, has launched a novel technology to better enable targeted sequencing studies with genomic DNA or RNA. This launch follows a successful early access period where the technology has been evaluated in leading genomics labs.

Sean Yoder, Lead Staff Scientist of the Molecular Genomics Core Facility at Moffitt Cancer Center, stated "We were pleased to be part of the early access program for the Ovation Target Enrichment System and are impressed with the results. Adoption of this technology as an integral part of our routine service enables generation of target-rich sequencing data in a rapid workflow, shortening time to results as compared to other target enrichment methods."

NuGEN's proprietary method provides sensitive variant detection, including SNPs, indels, translocations, gene fusions and alternative splicing events with more uniform coverage and lower drop-out rates than currently available bait-capture methods. The method features a rapid and convenient workflow that can be used with genomic material from both fresh and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, saving time and expanding sample sources available to the user.

"Existing methods for targeted enrichment either lack flexibility for probe design or require complex and time-consuming protocols. NuGEN's Ovation Target Enrichment System addresses both of these issues," commented Alan Dance, vice president of marketing at NuGEN. "We have seen tremendous market interest in the Ovation Target Enrichment Systems and the capability of the technology to generate best in class sequence data from a wide range of targets coupled with an easy, cost-effective and rapid workflow. Early access customers have particularly valued the ability to accurately assess the number of duplicate reads using only single end sequencing."

The Ovation Custom Target Enrichment System employs NuGEN's Single Primer Enrichment Technology (SPET), and is a complete library and enrichment solution for generation of enriched, multiplexed libraries from low-input amounts of genomic DNA or from cDNA. SPET technology is uniquely designed to provide independent coverage of target regions from both DNA strands, resulting in generation of high quality sequencing data. The rapid, low cost and extremely flexible custom design process has a three week delivery time, and is suitable for use in a range of applications including enrichment for exonic regions, splice variant and gene fusion analysis, long contiguous regions such as mitochondrial DNA and amplified genomic material from single cells.

In addition to custom target enrichment offerings, NuGEN is introducing two standard oncological panels for DNA and RNA, respectively. The Ovation Cancer Panel Target Enrichment System enriches over 300 genes associated with cancer and the Ovation Gene Fusion Target Enrichment System is the first truly comprehensive fusion panel of over 400 cancer genes involved in gene fusions. Both systems are available as 8-reaction test kits or 32 and 96 reaction kits.