Agilent Technologies Introduces Focused Exome Kit with Unparalleled Coverage, Speed, Flexibility for Disease Research

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced the SureSelect Focused Exome, a target enrichment solution that enables deep coverage of only those target regions that have been associated with disease. The latest design is 16 Mb in size and enables 98 percent of targeted regions to be covered with 20 or more reads with only 3 Gb of sequencing, allowing for sensitive detection of variants within a given sample.

The SureSelect Focused Exome enables clinical researchers to confidently make variant calls in regions of significance by targeting regions defined in HGMD, OMIM and ClinVar databases. The efficient design is a benchtop-sequencing-compatible solution for unbiased detection of variants relevant in the pathogenesis of rare disorders.

The highly optimized design, 3.5 times smaller than the full exome, enables greater flexibility in sample throughput, providing a cost-effective means of analyzing disease-associated targets. Custom content can also be added to the Focused Exome using SureDesign, allowing for a capture design to be tailored to meet the specific needs of the clinical researcher. The SureSelect Focused Exome can be paired with existing SureSelect target enrichment protocols with greatly reduced hybridization times, as little as 90 minutes, to provide sequencing-ready libraries in one day. This complete target-enrichment workflow solution enables faster time to definitive answers and accelerates discoveries in constitutional disease research.

“The SureSelect Focused Exome completes Agilent’s constitutional disease portfolio and meets the specialized needs of all types of clinical researchers,” said Alessandro Borsatti, senior director of Marketing for Agilent’s Diagnostics and Genomics group. “Whether they are studying rare disorders that necessitate comprehensive interrogation of the exome, disease-related regions, or Mendelian disorders with known etiology that only require analysis of very specific targets, researchers now have an ideal solution compatible with any type of exome sequencing platform.”

Agilent’s SureSelect portfolio is the industry’s leading target enrichment solution. The Focused Exome is the latest addition to the exome sequencing family, which includes the SureSelect Clinical Research Exome and SureSelectQXT. Combined, these solutions provide clinical researchers the higher coverage of disease-associated regions with the fastest hybridization-based target enrichment workflow needed to enable faster time to answers. SureSelect provides a complete solution for researchers to quickly and easily analyze specific regions of the genome, transcriptome and methylome. As part of the complete solution, SureSelect is supported by SureDesign software that enables custom capability, Bravo automation platforms that enable reproducibility and high-throughput sample processing, and SureCall software that enables quick, easy, streamlined analysis of genomic regions of interest.

Click here to learn more about the SureSelect Focused Exome.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, diagnostics, electronics and communications. The company’s 20,600 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had revenues of $6.8 billion in fiscal 2013. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.

In September 2013, Agilent announced plans to separate into two publicly traded companies through a tax-free spinoff of its electronic measurement business. On Aug. 1, 2014, the company’s electronic measurement business began operating as Keysight Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary. The separation is expected to be completed in early November 2014.

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