Swift Launches Accel-Amplicon™ Custom NGS Panels, Accelerating Variant Discovery In Challenging Biological Samples

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Swift Biosciences, a leading provider of innovative library prep solutions for next-generation sequencing (NGS), today announced the launch of its Accel-Amplicon™ Custom NGS Panels. These new panels offer a targeted DNA sequencing product that enables clinical researchers to rapidly design highly focused panels to discover, validate and screen disease genes and their variants.

With the quickest workflow, Swift's Accel-Amplicon™ Custom NGS Panel is a powerful solution to discover and assess clinically-relevant mutations across targeted genes using multiplexed amplicon sequencing. The panel is platform agnostic and addresses many applications such as fine mapping, variant discovery and screening, post GWAS replication, drug target discovery, clinical trial management and monitoring therapeutic efficacy.

"Our Accel-Amplicon Custom NGS Panels offer a breakthrough for translational researchers to interrogate variants within sample types that were impractical until now," said Candia Brown, Swift's Vice President of Global Marketing. "We've taken everything we've learned from our pre-designed panels and collaborative partnerships to deliver a transformative workflow that helps any laboratory implement targeted sequencing and rapidly uncover new biological insights into complex diseases."

Key features and benefits of the Accel-Amplicon Custom NGS Panel include:

• Supports the widest range of input sample types including fresh and fresh-frozen tissue, whole blood, blood spot cards, FFPE, cell-free DNA, circulating tumor DNA, buccal swab, whole genome amplified DNA and purified DNA.
• Requires the least amount of sample input with only 10 nanograms
• Enables the fastest library prep workflow in under two hours
• Provides the only single-tube NGS assay with complete and comprehensive genomic coverage
• Includes fully optimized and wet-lab validated NGS assays in every design.
• Supported on either Ion Torrent or Illumina sequencing platforms

To complete this breakthrough workflow, Swift partnered with Genialis, a software solution company, to integrate alignment, trimming, QC and variant calling into one simple pipeline. The Genialis' cloud application also automates an algorithm optimized for accurate variant detection, including low frequency variants in heterogeneous samples, such as cancer.  It is fast and easy to use, as it offers data visualization and annotated variants using direct links to publicly available databases such as COSMIC and NCBI.

"Targeted NGS sequencing is transforming translational research and genomic medicine by allowing researchers to rapidly and confidently screen important variants," said Rafael Rosengarten, Genialis' President and Chief Product Officer. "However, data analysis and interpretation is a long-standing bottleneck that has significantly constrained the speed and scale of these studies.  This alliance with Swift Biosciences will enable us to deliver our innovative algorithms and interface to transform how researchers call, visualize and annotate variants. This will yield faster discoveries and support broader collaboration between laboratories."

The Accel-Amplicon Custom NGS Panel is now commercially available.  At ASHG 2017, Swift and Genialis will debut the complete targeted sequencing workflow at a Swift educational workshop on October 19. The event, entitled "Harnessing the Power of Next-Generation Sequencing for Precision Medicine" will be held at the Hilton Orlando Hotel, Lake George Ballroom. 

SOURCE Swift Biosciences

Related Links

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