OGT Awarded Contract to Develop NGS Software

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) has been awarded a £200K phase one development contract by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) healthcare competition to develop whole genome Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis software to increase the accuracy, and enhance the analysis of genomic sequence data. This landmark project has the potential to accelerate the diagnosis of cancer and rare diseases, ultimately supporting patient care and research.

The SBRI is a collaboration between the UK Department of Health and Genomics England Ltd. The initiative operates a competition for funding designed to support the development of innovative technologies that address the requirements of the 100K Genome Project. This includes bioinformatics and analysis algorithms, through to the development of new commercial products for genomic screening and stratified medicine. The contracts are awarded in two phases; the first enables companies to demonstrate the technical feasibility of their product and if successful, they are eligible for a second phase of funding to develop and test the product further.

OGT has considerable experience gained in the design and development of software for microarray and NGS data interpretation and will apply this knowledge to develop a clinician-friendly interpretation package for whole genome scale genetic variant data, said the company.