-Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, and CeGaT GmbH, a global provider of sequencing services for research, clinical studies, and human genetic diagnostics, today announced the launch of the Twist Alliance CeGaT RNA Fusion Panel, which is designed to detect RNA fusions and conduct transcript variant analysis for oncology research. RNA fusions are the result of parts from two different genes fusing together. This can happen during chromosomal arrangements, which frequently occur in cancers.

“RNA fusions often go undetected by PCR sequencing methods if one of the gene parts is unknown and by whole transcriptome analysis, especially when the sample input is degraded,” said Dirk Biskup, Ph.D., managing director and co-founder of CeGaT. “We combined Twist's RNA Library Prep and target enrichment capabilities with our expert knowledge in tumor diagnostics and panel design. This is how together we created the Twist Alliance CeGaT RNA Fusion Panel enriching for over one hundred and fifty fusion genes. This panel is designed to deliver high-quality results, even from low-input samples.”

RNA fusions are known drivers of disease evolution and progression, making them key biomarkers for oncology studies. Detection of fusion events can be used by researchers to identify molecular subtypes of cancers, which could inform studies concerning precision treatment options. They can also be used by researchers to monitor for minimal residual disease (MRD) following treatment.

“As we expand into the RNA market, the Twist Alliance CeGaT RNA Fusion Panel adds to our growing RNA sequencing toolset, which includes the Twist RNA Exome, RNA Library Prep and rRNA and Globin Depletion Kit. It also adds to our growing portfolio of DNA and RNA products that could be used to support precision medicine research in oncology,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “By partnering with CeGaT, we are able to offer researchers an end-to-end library prep workflow with Twist RNA Library Prep and fusion capture and CeGaT’s software analysis.”

 Twist Alliance CeGaT RNA Fusion Panel

The Twist Alliance CeGaT RNA Fusion Panel utilizes Twist RNA Library Prep and fusion capture along with CeGaT’s software analysis to detect fusions in specific tumor types and identify novel fusion events. The panel includes over one hundred and fifty fusion genes.