Lynx and Solexa jointly acquire DNA technology assets

Lynx Therapeutics, of California, and UK-based Solexa have jointly acquired the rights to proprietary technology assets for DNA colony generation from Swiss-based Manteia.

The acquired technology assets feature a process to enable parallel amplification of millions of DNA fragments, each from a single DNA molecule, to create DNA colonies or 'clusters'. The clusters are dense collections of DNA molecules on a surface, which should enable fast and simplified preparation of the biological sample for analysis and allow reduced reagent consumption as a result of the highly parallel nature of the analysis.

For Lynx, the planar cluster technology, when fully developed, will replace its Megaclone technology, a process that transforms a sample containing millions of DNA molecules into one made up of millions of micro-beads coated with DNA. 'We believe the replacement of Megaclone microbeads with DNA clusters should provide us with the opportunity to deliver our technology and associated instrumentation directly to our customers, allowing them to generate high quality data in their own facilities,' said Kevin Corcoran, Lynx's president and ceo.

For Solexa, the DNA cluster technology will be combined with its novel base-at-a-time sequencing biochemistry to complement the systems already in development, based on single molecule arrays, for the comprehensive and economical analysis of individual genomes. According to ceo Nick McCooke, the tech-nology gives the company the opportunity to introduce an earlier-launch product into its pipeline.

Lynx and Solexa anticipate that there may be opportunities for additional collaborations with this technology as each company's development programmes move forward. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.