Agena Bioscience Releases MassArray 24-Well System for Genetic Analysis

Agena Bioscience on Tuesday launched its MassArray 24-Well System for mass spectrometry-based genetic testing. The product joins existing 96- and 384-well systems in the MassArray portfolio, and is tailored to smaller clinical testing laboratories, the company said.

The 24-well system can help labs cut wait times and costs for smaller panels or panels that are run less often — such as lung cancer panels for the ALK gene and other mutations, CEO Peter Danksy said. Testing can cost less than a tenth of what next-generation sequencing tests cost and is ideal for clinical research studies, which often involve targeted testing of five to 50 patients, he added.

The system can analyze up to 50 genetic loci per well. Because of the high confidence in mass spectrometry, MassArray data are often used to validate mutations detected by genome sequencing in the research and clinical settings, Agena said.

Labs that purchase the 24-well system can upgrade to the 96- or 384-well formats if testing volumes expand, the company noted. Labs that already have the larger well systems can use the 24-well format SpectroCHIP without modifying the hardware for more cost-effective lower-volume testing, the firm added.

Agena purchased the MassArray platform from Sequenom in 2014, and began developing the 24-well system based on feedback from the clinical community. — Kellen Owings