The Helicos Genetic Analysis System boasts true single molecule sequencing (tSMS) technology, which allows direct measurement of billions of strands of DNA enabling scientists to "perform experiments and ask questions never before possible," according to its developers Helicos BioSciences.
"The effective translation of genomic discoveries into translational research requires increasingly large studies to investigate the normal underlying heterogeneity of human disease," said Dr Patrice Milos, vice president and chief scientific officer of Helicos.
"The single molecule sequencing technology enables the scale of studies required throughout the drug discovery and development process, providing a unique opportunity for Expression Analysis clients".
The fact that it allows scientists to sequence a single molecule of DNA without amplification, providing simplicity in terms of sample preparation, also allows for greater accuracy and cost savings on current methods, the firm said.
Steve McPhail, president and CEO of Expression Analysis told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that the new technology has the ability to provide a much deeper understanding of human biology, and it is hoped that this will lead to "significant advances" in personalised medicine.
The system enables de novo sequencing of genomes, candidate gene resequencing, transcriptome sequencing, microRNA sequencing and DNA methylation analysis.
Applications range from compound screening in drug discovery, to a deeper understanding of preclinical cell lines, to DNA and RNA tumour profiling in patients, he said.
"The technology is so powerful that we truly do not yet understand the biological questions that can be asked and answered.
The next several years should be a lot of fun as many new scientific breakthroughs are achieved."
Helicos president and COO Steve Lombardi told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that single molecule DNA sequencing has been a goal of the scientific community for more than 40 years and over the last 20 years many research groups and commercial companies have attempted to develop and commercialise single molecule sequencing.
Lombardi said he believes the combined benefits of the technology represent a more comprehensive approach to current genomic technologies and take a "significant step toward the $1,000 genome."
"It is the only technology on the market that can claim performance at the scale of the $1,000 genome", which he described as an inflection point for both the research and medical communities.
"Regarding the path to the $1,000 genome, Helicos believes it can accelerate the pace of research on complex genetic diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
This will generate the data and knowledge to enable the development of novel therapies and diagnostic tests found in personalised medicine," said Lombardi.
According to McPhail, genetic analysis is a growing area of preclinical services.
"Many pharmaceutical companies find that it is more efficient, cost effective and a better use of resources to outsource their genetic analysis requirements.
In the case of sequencing, we have found that many of our clients do not want to build infrastructure to support sequencing, rather their goal is to focus on how to apply results of sequence analysis to discovery and development questions," he said.
At present, there are a lot of companies that provide genetic testing services, but relatively few currently offer next generation sequencing services at this time.
"I see a very significant growth in market demand over the next five years.
The HeliScope is a universal genetic analyzer.
As we see significant improvements in performance and cost, genetic testing will migrate from current platforms to next generation sequencers," said McPhail.