RainDance Technologies and Ambry Genetics collaborate to develop ADME genetic screening panel

19 March 2011

RainDance Technologies, Inc. and Ambry Genetics have announced a new collaboration for the development of a drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) genetic screening panel for use on next-generation sequencing (NGS) systems.

ADME analysis is a critical part of the drug discovery and development process, providing important data on how a compound reaches the blood stream and whether distribution, metabolism and excretion are affected by factors such as age, sex, ethnicity or genetics.

In recent years, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries have been performing ADME screening earlier in an effort to reduce the significant costs associated with failed drug trials and hospitalizations due to adverse events. Scientific studies indicate that more effective indicators of atypical drug metabolism and molecular pharmacology could help reduce hospitalizations associated with adverse drug events by 50% or more.

Current genotyping tools for ADME research lack the genetic sensitivity, genomic coverage, and resolution necessary to detect many of the important mutations associated with adverse drug events.

The new ADME panel developed by RainDance and Ambry will give the capacity to perform sequence analysis of entire coding regions associated with more than 220 key drug metabolism-linked genes including transporters, receptors, regulators and all pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetic genes, as well as all US FDA-identified pharmacogenomic biomarker genes.

The new panel, provided as part of the Ambry ADME sequencing service, will leverage RainDance’s proprietary primer design methods and microdroplet-based RDT 1000 platform, which provides the highly accurate, consistent, and reproducible results required in ADME research and for most FDA drug applications.