Cooper Genomics has licensed BioSkryb Genomics’ proprietary ResolveDNA genomic amplification technology to enhance Cooper’s preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) capabilities. The agreement will also permit Cooper to market and distribute the BioSkryb technology for the PGT and women’s reproductive health market globally.
Charles Smith PhD, executive vice president of Life Science Services and Innovation at Cooper Genomics, said, “Screening IVF embryos for chromosomal and other genetic abnormalities before transfer has been shown to increase the likelihood of achieving a successful pregnancy, including increasing implantation rates, reducing miscarriage rates, increasing live birth rates, and enabling single embryo transfers.”
BioSkryb Genomics engineers single-cell whole genome and whole transcriptome amplification tools to study genomic heterogeneity aiding researchers in the discovery of novel insights into human disease at the cellular level.
Infertility affects approximately 15 percent of couples, an estimated 48.5 million couples worldwide. Often couples turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant. Preimplantation genetic testing aims to identify euploid embryos (those with the correct number and makeup of chromosomes) with the aim of selectively transferring these euploid embryos a single embryo at a time, which has been shown in multiple studies to increase live birth rate, decrease miscarriage rate and reduce multiple pregnancy chances.
Smith added that, “Having access to the BioSkryb technology will provide a new level of genomic analysis and testing accuracy, enhancing the positive impact we have in the field of women’s reproductive health and in the lives of patients around the world.”
The deal will provide Cooper with BioSkryb’s ResolveDNA single-cell genomic amplification technology, which incorporates proprietary Primary Template-directed Amplification (PTA) technology.
PTA employs controlled reaction parameters, allowing uniform amplification of >95% of the genomes of single cells across multiple clinical and research applications—even in low input samples—with market leading precision and sensitivity. The company says this approach results in the highest quality analyses available today for single-cell genomics across many disciplines including, but not limited to, oncology, neurology, cell and gene, cardiovascular, microbiome, and reproductive health.
“The ground-breaking technology behind our ResolveDNA product was designed specifically to address the challenges seen with current bulk sequencing and single-cell analysis, such as uniform coverage of the genome, breadth of genomic coverage, as well as specificity of the resolution required for accurate variant calling. These challenges can particularly hinder confidence in the analysis of preimplantation genetic testing,” said Jay A.A. West, PhD, CEO and co-founder of BioSkryb.
The deal spans multiple years and is exclusive in the PGT and Women’s Reproductive Health markets.
Gary Harton, PhD, GM, Reproductive Health at BioSkryb, said, “Having spent the majority of my career performing work at the single cell level, I was astounded by the data produced by the ResolveDNA platform. When utilized on embryo biopsy samples, adding PTA to the front-end of PGT testing at Cooper Genomics will unlock a wave of new discovery and clinical improvements for IVF patients globally.”
