US-based molecular diagnostics company Cepheid and UK-based Oxford Nanopore Technologies have partnered to advance sequencing solutions for infectious diseases.
The collaboration will integrate Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing platform with Cepheid’s GeneXpert system, creating an automated workflow for rapid molecular analysis.
It aims to enhance infectious disease diagnostics by providing results within hours.
The partnership follows a study combining Cepheid’s cartridge-based GeneXpert system for sample and library preparation with Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing platform.
The positive study outcomes cleared the path for a joint Research Use Only (RUO) workflow, enabling in-house rapid sequencing for infectious disease analysis.
Initially, the workflow will target bacterial and fungal pathogen profiling through whole genome sequencing, starting from culture isolates and positive blood cultures.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies CEO Gordon Sanghera said: “This collaboration represents an important step forward in delivering new and improved workflow options to better understand infectious diseases.
“By partnering to integrate our richer data, rapid insights, and accessible and affordable sequencing technology with Cepheid’s GeneXpert architecture, we are establishing a workflow foundation that is positioned for future expansion into scaled routine clinical use.”
The partners may expand the collaboration into other areas, such as cancer, human genetics, and regulatory-approved clinical diagnostics.
The joint solution aims to deliver a scalable, automated nanopore sequencing workflow for various settings, including labs lacking in-house sequencing expertise.
It will support third-party informatics tools, including Oxford Nanopore’s EPI2ME.
Also, Cepheid will offer an informatics solution licensed from a leading industry player, enhancing pathogen identification and antimicrobial resistance detection.
Cepheid president Vitor Rocha said: “Combining the ease-of-use of the GeneXpert system, the most widely placed PCR diagnostic instrument worldwide, with Oxford Nanopore’s unique sequencing platform, unlocks a richness of biomarker data that has historically been technically challenging for many labs to access.
“Providing an integrated solution to more effectively characterize infectious diseases, understand the epidemiology of bacterial outbreaks, and profile antimicrobial resistance will meaningfully accelerate our mission of expanding access to critical molecular information.”
