QIAGEN Integrates Quality Control Tools into GeneReader NGS System

QIAGEN N.V. today announced that an extensive package consisting of a quality control set and verification data will be offered with its GeneReader NGS System, reinforcing the proven accuracy of its next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflow and facilitating system setup, quality assurance and training for laboratories. QIAGEN has incorporated the Horizon Discovery Group’s industry-standard reference control data set into the GeneReader NGS workflow to support clinical cancer research users from Sample to Insight.

In addition, QIAGEN’s GeneRead QIAact Actionable Insights Tumor Panel, the first in a family of multiplex panels for the GeneReader NGS System, has demonstrated the highest levels of accuracy, consistency and reliability in extensive testing compared with Horizon’s control data. The workflow achieved full concordance with the Horizon Quantitative Multiplex FFPE Reference Standards in correctly identifying eight critical cancer-linked variants above 5% allelic frequency covered by the control data. The QIAact panel targets 12 clinically actionable genes often analyzed in the most prevalent types of cancer research, including breast, ovarian, colorectal, lung and melanoma.

“We created the GeneReader NGS System to provide the world’s first truly complete solution for next-generation sequencing, everything a research laboratory needs to achieve actionable insights, and now QIAGEN is the only company to offer quality control for complete NGS workflows. Labs can effectively manage NGS with one vendor from Sample to Insight, rather than juggling the complexity of many providers,” said Jonathan Arnold, QIAGEN’s Oncology Franchise Business Leader. “Integrating Horizon controls into the GeneReader NGS System workflow makes quality assurance easier for users, from system set-up and training laboratory staff to guiding workflow quality control. QIAGEN scientists have proven our Actionable Insights Tumor Panel as robust and reliable based on Horizon data, confirming earlier findings by the respected Broad Institute.”

Dr. Yassmine Akkari, Molecular Pathology Technical Director for Legacy Health in Portland, Oregon, said: “As a laboratory director, my responsibility is to deliver accurate results in a timely manner. Reference standards and protocols are critical to labs like mine to establish confidence in a testing platform, and to use in important training and QC processes. This dataset published by QIAGEN is the first of its kind for NGS, and the comparison of the Actionable Insights Tumor Panel to Horizon’s industry benchmarks affirms the accuracy and reliability of the GeneReader NGS system.”

“We are pleased that QIAGEN has chosen Horizon as a partner”, said Dr. Paul Morrill, President, Products Business, Horizon Discovery Group. “The incorporation of our widely-used and well-established reference standards as a data set into the GeneReader NGS workflow demonstrates the quality of the system and underlines the critical role our reference samples play in the adoption of NGS workflows by clinical research laboratories.”

The GeneReader NGS System, introduced in late 2015, is gaining rapidly worldwide adoption as a highly efficient solution to address fragmented NGS workflows and bottlenecks that have hindered many research labs from achieving actionable insights from next-generation sequencing. QIAGEN is developing a range of enhancements that will add further value, including upcoming gene panels with additional content focusing on breast and lung cancer.

QIAGEN will demonstrate the GeneReader NGS System together with its other Sample to Insights solutions for molecular diagnostic and research applications in oncology at Booth 18031 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2016 Annual Meeting on June 3-7, 2016, in Chicago.