Vela Diagnostics Acquires Licensing for New Technologies

Vela Diagnostics has reached an agreement with the University of California, San Francisco for licensing 2 technologies. The purpose of the technologies, FLASH (Finding Low Abundance Sequences by Hybridization) and DASH (Depletion of Abundant Sequences of Hybridization) is for Vela to develop and produce new products and services in the United States and other countries. The technologies are specifically for “enriching rare sequences in nucleic acid libraries.”

Vela intends to develop practices in oncology and infectious diseases testing development, which will include new methods for testing microbiology and microbes along with cell-free DNA/RNA, according to a press release from Vela.

Joseph DeRisi, PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, developed both FLASH and DASH in his laboratory. The university promotes development through innovative research in the fields of biomedicine, life science and health professions, and emphasizes the value of patient care.

FLASH has shown success in enriching low-abundance sequences in complex sequencing libraries. The technology has the capability to take research a step further than previously developed technologies while also being efficient and cost-effective. FLASH also can simultaneously work with large sequences and be applicable to diverse samples.

The DASH invention is designed for depleting undesired sequences. The device has the ability to be programmed to manipulate the sequencing yield of a sample with its single-tube design.

“We are excited to have signed an agreement with UCSF and now have access to DASH and FLASH technologies, which will be game-changing for the industry and any future development of molecular testing solutions. It is a great opportunity for us and we are now in a position to power our further developments of the oncology and virology portfolios by these innovative methods,” said Vela Diagnostics CEO Michael Tillmann in the press release.