Warwick spin-out base of Hitachi deal

Genetics company Base4 Innovation has signed a collaborative agreement with tech firm Hitachi High-Technologies to develop the Cambridge-based firm’s DNA sequencing system.

Hitachi will lend its instrumentation under the terms of the deal to the Warwick University spin-out, which in turn will use the Japan-based firm’s tech to further examine its long read-length, single-molecule, nanopore-based DNA sequencing system.

Base4’s technology makes easy analysis of genetic material a possibility, enabling the firm to directly read DNA modifications such as methylation, relevant to genes associated with cancer.

Spinning out of Warwick in 2007, Base4 established its base in Cambridge and has established strategic partnerships with the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physics and its Department of Veterinary Medicine.

To date, it has raised £6m ($9m) in venture backing. Its backers include Longwall Ventures, which manages the UK Government-backed £30m Oxford Technology Enterprise Capital Fund, and scientific fellowship the Royal Society.

Cameron Frayling, founder and chief executive of Base4, said: “Base4’s objective is to develop a state-of-the-art instrument which makes it possible to answer new questions in the clinic and in the field of genomic research. For this nanopore sequencing system, Hitachi High-Tech is our preferred manufacturing partner. Development of this technology is expected to take place over three years, both in Cambridge and Hitachinaka-shi, Japan. Hitachi High-Tech is a highly experienced manufacturer of clinical and research systems for the life sciences and is a perfect long-term strategic partner for Base4. We are very excited by what the next few years might bring.”