12 May 2016 07:00
Horizon Enters into OEM Agreements with Market Leading
Next Generation Sequencing Company
· Two OEM agreements signed to date, with potential for additional agreements to follow
Cambridge, UK, 12 May 2016: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon"), the world leader in the application of gene editing technologies, today announces it has entered into two Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) agreements with a global market leading Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform company, with the potential for additional agreements to follow.
Horizon is a leading provider of highly characterised genetic materials that are used as reference standards for the development and quality control of molecular assays. These reference standards help laboratories to establish and validate their workflows.
Under the terms of the agreements, Horizon will supply two previously developed HDx™ Molecular Reference Standards that cover many of the genes most commonly linked with cancer progression and response to treatment. The Horizon materials will be incorporated into assay kits from the NGS manufacturer for a range of applications including cancer research and diagnostics.
Paul Morrill, President, Products at Horizon Discovery Group commented: "The inclusion of Horizon's Reference Standards as a standard kit component by a leading NGS platform provider demonstrates a shift toward independent and highly characterised reference materials to support the deployment of NGS assays in cancer. We are pleased that Horizon was recognised as having the expertise and scale to be a partner in this program."
Financial details of the agreements were not disclosed.
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Notes for Editors:
About Next Generation Sequencing
NGS is now at the forefront of the battle against cancer as it enables the screening of a broad range of biomarkers in a single sample. However, this has created new challenges around assay verification and validation, from sample extraction and library preparation through to sequencing chemistry and informatics. These are all steps where variability can be introduced that could influence the accuracy of samples, and must be controlled. The use of robust and precisely defined reference materials is therefore critical to the ongoing adoption of NGS platforms in healthcare.
About Horizon Discovery Group plc www.horizondiscovery.com/
Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon"), is a world-leading gene editing company that designs and engineers genetically-modified cells and then applies them in research and clinical applications that advance human health.
Horizon's core capabilities are built around its proprietary translational genomics platform, a highly precise and flexible suite of gene editing tools (rAAV, ZFN and CRISPR) able to alter almost any gene sequence in human or mammalian cell-lines.
Horizon offers over 23,000 catalogue products and related research services, almost all of which are based on the generation and application of cell and in vivo models that accurately recapitulate the disease-causing genetic anomalies found in diseases like cancer. Horizon's commercial offering has been adopted by c1,400 unique research organisations in over 50 countries as well as in the Company's own R&D pipeline to support a greater understanding of the genetic drivers of disease and the development of molecular, cell and gene therapies that can be prescribed on a personalised basis.
Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "HZD".
For further information from Horizon Discovery Group plc, please contact:
Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial Media and Investor Relations)
Amber Fennell / Jessica Hodgson / Matthew Neal / Laura Thornton
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701
Email: horizon@consilium-comms.com
Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)
Katie Odgaard
Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947
Email: katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
Numis Securities Limited (Joint Broker and NOMAD)
Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield
Tel: +44 (0) 207 260 1000
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker)
Paul Tomasic / Marcus Jackson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000