Roche NimbleGen and Caliper Collaborate to Offer Automated Target Enrichment Pipeline Solution for Next-Generation Sequencing

MADISON, Wis. and HOPKINTON, Mass., July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALP) today announced a co-marketing agreement for the development and optimization of automated protocols for the NimbleGen SeqCap EZ Library solution-based capture method for Caliper's Sciclone® NGS Workstation.  The collaboration aims to simplify high throughput targeted resequencing workflows by developing automated methods for sequencing library preparation and enrichment of target regions, quantification, and quality control. The automated methods will enable biomedical researchers worldwide to analyze large cohorts to discover and confirm genetic variants that contribute to human disease.

"Roche NimbleGen is committed to providing the research community with innovative and enabling solutions for targeted resequencing," said Dr. Frank Pitzer, CEO of Roche NimbleGen, Inc.  "The continued exponential growth of sequencing throughput and the volume of samples to be analyzed has shifted the bottleneck to sample preparation and process control. By combining our solutions with Caliper's NGS workstation, the bottlenecks are eliminated, creating the capacity to analyze large cohorts and optimize research efforts."

"Caliper's Sciclone NGS Workstation significantly accelerates high throughput sequencing sample preparation and enrichment for numerous sequencing chemistries and workflows," said Kevin Hrusovsky, President and CEO of Caliper Life Sciences. "Together Caliper and Roche NimbleGen are developing targeted sequencing applications that enable studies that analyze variants across large populations to detect and better understand the causal agents of disease."

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2009, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 10 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 49.1 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.  

For more information about Roche NimbleGen, please visit www.nimblegen.com.

About Caliper Life Sciences

Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies enabling researchers in the life sciences industry to create life-saving and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more quickly and efficiently. Caliper is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge the gap between in vitro assays and in vivo results and then translating those results into cures for human disease. Caliper's portfolio of offerings includes state-of-the-art microfluidics, lab automation & liquid handling, optical imaging technologies, and discovery & development outsourcing solutions.

Caliper has developed a complete suite of next generation sequencing tools including the Sciclone NGS Workstation for sequencing sample preparation, the LabChip® GX for library quantification and quality control, and the preparative LabChip XT that automates the gel isolation steps for library purification. For more information please visit www.caliperls.com.

For additional information about Caliper's solutions for next generation sequencing, please visit www.caliperls.com/genomics.

NimbleGen and SeqCap are trademarks of Roche.  Caliper, Sciclone, and LabChip are registered trademarks of Caliper Life Sciences, Inc.  Other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Caliper Life Sciences, Inc.