Sophia Genetics, the global leader in Data-Driven Medicine, and Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD), the world-leader in the application of gene editing technologies, today announced they have entered into a new partnership to improve the quality of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) based genetic testing in oncology patient samples.

Under the terms of the agreement, Horizon’s HDx™ Reference Standards will be combined with Sophia Genetics’ artificial intelligence, providing hospitals and laboratories with more accurate and high quality NGS testing services, assays and genomic data analysis.

In particular, current and future users of the Sophia DDM^® analytical platform will be able to assess the quality of their NGS assays, reaching the highest levels of sensitivity and specificity. The use of HDx Reference Standards will help with performance monitoring as well as reproducibility and repeatability of NGS tests.

Jurgi Camblong, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Sophia Genetics, commented: “The quality of molecular profiling is a cornerstone of NGS testing and relies on a series of technical steps being performed correctly, from the collection of patient samples and DNA extraction, to creating and analysing genomic data. Sophia Genetics helps hospitals and laboratories to make the most of their NGS testing and we are delighted to combine Horizon’s Reference Standards with our artificial intelligence for Data-Driven Medicine, increasing the number of patients that will benefit from reliable NGS genomic testing results.”

Dr. Darrin M. Disley, Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Discovery Group, commented: “Our new partnership with Sophia Genetics demonstrates the increasingly important role well validated controls have in the provision of molecular assays, especially for complex technologies such as NGS as they become more widely adopted. We look forward to working closely with Sophia Genetics as our Reference Standards become an important component of their workflows.”

Financial terms for the partnership have not been disclosed.

more about horizon discovery group