Rubicon Genomics, Inc. announced that it has partnered with Diagenode SA to integrate Rubicon's ThruPLEX(TM) technology into Diagenode's epigenetics platforms to increase the efficiency and quality of DNA sample preparation for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) applications. The new agreement allows Diagenode to incorporate the Rubicon ThruPLEX-FD technology into its new MicroPLEX Library Preparation Kit for ChIP-seq studies requiring very small amounts of sample. Diagenode's products increase the efficiency and speed of the process used to precipitate and recover DNA for ChIP applications from very small amounts of chromatin. The combination of these two patented technologies will decrease the time and labor needed for ChIP-sequencing by almost 10 hours and provide researchers with high quality ChIP-seq and ChIP-chip results from small samples, reducing the number of cells needed to conduct ChIP analyses by a minimum of 100-fold.

Fluxion Biosciences, Inc. announced an initial agreement to partner with Rubicon Genomics, Inc. in a reagent supply and collaboration program. The collaboration will integrate enrichment methods for rare cells using Fluxion's IsoFlux System with Rubicon's technology for the preparation and amplification of rare cell DNA or RNA using the Rubicon NovaPLEX(TM) family of sample preparation kits. Access to tumor tissue represents one of the most significant challenges in characterizing specific cancers. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) disseminate from primary tumors and enter the peripheral bloodstream in very low concentrations. These rare circulating cells have shown promise as an alternative to biopsies of primary tumor tissue, and can be used to characterize tumor status at the molecular level. However, most DNA analysis methods require higher amounts of genetic material then typically can be collected from CTCs. Technologies developed by Fluxion and Rubicon provide for specialized pre-analytical processing of difficult biological samples and enable subsequent analysis using sequencing, microarrays or PCR. Fluxion's IsoFlux System provides a real-time 'liquid biopsy' that delivers high quality CTC samples optimized for molecular analysis. The platform utilizes a proprietary microfluidic technology to isolate rare cells with high efficiency. Samples processed using the IsoFlux System are immediately ready for downstream analysis. Multiple analytical techniques can be used with IsoFlux samples including mutation detection, gene expression, sequencing, and protein analysis. Rubicon Genomics provides sample-specific kits for pre-analytical processing to improve the performance and capabilities of DNA and RNA analytical platforms for research and clinical testing. As part of this agreement, Fluxion and Rubicon will apply sample-specific products from Rubicon's amplification portfolio to samples processed by Fluxion's IsoFlux System. These amplified samples will then be optimal for analysis using a variety of genomics techniques, including next generation sequencing and PCR-based approaches.

Rubicon Genomics, Inc. announced the launch of the first product in its innovative ThruPLEX(TM) family of sample preparation kits designed and optimized for next generation sequencing (NGS). ThruPLEX-FD kits leverage Rubicon's patented DNA repair and ligation methods to deliver significantly faster and more sensitive sequencing of plasma, formalin-fixed, ChIP and other fragmented DNA with substantially increased throughput. ThruPLEX kits are also applicable to sample preparation for PCR and microarray testing. ThruPLEX-FD is a streamlined one-tube, three-step process without intermediate purifications, transfers, columns or gels. The reduced steps and material transfers decrease the likelihood of experimental variability, bias and contamination. DNA is sequencing-ready in two hours with as little as 15 minutes of hands-on time. A technician can prepare 192 ThruPLEX samples a day--a 15-fold increase in productivity compared to current methods. ThruPLEX-FD is designed and validated for use with samples as small as 50 picograms of human DNA and can be used in plasma, FFPE, cDNA, ChIP and population studies. ThruPLEX-FD is currently available as 48-reaction, 12-index kits for sequencing on Illumina(R) HiSeq(R), MiSeq(R) and Genome Analyzer instruments. ThruPLEX-FD kits are also being developed for additional formats and platforms.