The Volpi Group, a company develops and manufactures optoelectronic, bio-photonic OEM system solutions for innovative companies in the life science tools, in vitro diagnostics and medical technology markets, announced that it is collaborating with Qiagen Instruments AG on the manufacture of the automated fluorescence imaging module used in Qiagen's GeneReader next-generation sequencing (NGS) instrument. The benchtop GeneReader combines with other Qiagen NGS products to provide the first seamless, fully automated Sample to Insight workflow.

Volpi optimized the GeneReader's automated imaging module at its precision engineering site in Zurich, Switzerland. The module for the Qiagen instrument is manufactured at Volpi's production facility in Auburn, New York, USA. Volpi specializes in the engineering and manufacture of optoelectronic modules for diagnostic, life science and other applications. These modules combine electronics with the detection and measurement of light, like the fluorescent light emitted by the GeneReader system when a biological marker is present in a patient sample.

"Our partnership with Qiagen Instruments AG contributed to the successful launch of Qiagen's GeneReader NGS System and helped to pave the way for its ongoing adoption in the clinical research market," said Max Kunz, CEO of Volpi. "Our partnership is the perfect example of a highly productive collaboration between a world-leading life science and diagnostics company and a specialized OEM provider."

"Throughout the industrialization phase in Switzerland and the transfer of the module design to manufacturing in our US facility, experts from both companies worked tirelessly and seamlessly to achieve the highest levels of performance, precision and quality for the GeneReader instrument," said Dr Harald Kraushaar, executive vice president sales and marketing at Volpi. "These experts included not only those well-versed in optoelectronics, but also experts in product development, biophysics, biochemistry and software development."

"Volpi worked closely with us through all stages of pre-commercial industrialization of our GeneReader instrument," said Konstantin Lutze, vice president, R&D instrumentation at Qiagen. "Volpi's experts provided extensive know-how on optics, tester-development, fluorescence standards and software. They adapted their solutions to our unique needs and continuously delivered the best quality with high attention to the urgency of the project. Qiagen's collaboration with Volpi was highly important to the successful launch of the GeneReader NGS System."

The GeneReader NGS System provides the first complete Sample to Insight Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) solution designed for any laboratory to deliver actionable results. It offers the world's first truly end-to-end NGS workflow from primary sample to final report that provides a simpler, more cost-effective way for clinical testing to take advantage of the NGS technology and improve outcomes.

One of the first applications for GeneReader is the Actionable Insights Tumor Panel, the first of a family of panels powered by Qiagen Clinical Insight (QCI), the company's clinical decision support solution for labs. The novel tumour gene panel targets 12 clinically actionable genes that are often analyzed in most of the prevalent types of cancer, including breast, ovarian, colorectal, lung and skin.

Qiagen N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions to transform biological materials into valuable molecular insights.