Mission Bio Gains China Foothold with SequMed Collaboration

Mission Bio Gains China Foothold with SequMed Collaboration
Focus on China the Map. Source: "World reference atlas"

High-throughput single-cell DNA and multi-omics analysis company Mission Bio announced today a collaboration with SequMed, a Guangzho, China-based single-cell omics company that will allow Mission Bio to expand its reach into the China market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mission Bio will integrate its technology platform with SequMed’s clinical assay development and data analysis capabilities to co-develop novel single-cell assays focused on early detection, medication guidance, and prognostic monitoring of cancers. The companies also foresee this integration having applications in reproductive genetics.

“Tumor heterogeneity is always one of the biggest challenges for cancer therapy and the development of treatment resistance,” said Yan Zhang, CEO of Mission Bio in a press release. “Our Tapestri single-cell sequencing solutions enable us to detect the co-occurring mutations within cancer cells, allowing us to understand the mechanisms of resistance at a granular level…By integrating our single-cell technology with SequMed’s expertise in clinical assay development, we are committed to improving diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of diseases in China.”

Mission Bio’s Tapestri platform provides a unique combination of analytic capabilities. According to the company, it allows for the interrogation of all the molecules in a cell together and is the only commercialized multi-omics platform that allows for the simultaneous analysis of the DNA and proteins from the same sample, at single-cell resolution.

According to Prof. Xinghua Victor Pan, chairman of Technology Committee of SequMed, these capabilities are strongly complementary to its technology.

“We are dedicated to promoting the development and application of next-generation single-cell multi-omics technology in scientific and clinical research,” Pan noted. “We look forward to working with Mission Bio to develop novel single-cell assays for different diseases, from molecular mechanism elucidation to clinical medicine acceleration. With the synergies between the two collaborating parties, SequMed will enter into a new era, providing our customers in China with comprehensive solutions for personalized medicine.”

SequMed, founded in 2017, provides single-cell technologies across the research, drug development, healthcare, and diagnostics sectors. It’s core technologies include MustSeq, mCNVS, and mRRMS and the company has also secured similar collaborations with 10x Genomics, and BD Rhapsody to further develop and commercialize it single-cell capabilities.