TGen News

A collaboration between TGen, part of City of Hope, Ginkgo Bioworks and an international team of scientists aims to create a fast, easy-to-use metagenomic sequencing tool dubbed RANGER that helps hospitals and healthcare facilities quickly diagnose respiratory viruses. Metagenomic sequencing is a powerful tool used to study the genetic material of entire microbial communities, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms, without needing to isolate or culture them first. The results provide insights into the hidden world of microbes.

TGen’s Nicholas Schork, Ph.D., distinguished professor, and director of TGen’s Clinical Genomics and Therapeutics Division will serve as the Quantitative lead on the RANGER, as part of Ginkgo’s partnership with the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) as the contracting authority for a joint tender worth up to €24 million (approximately $25.6 million USD). The funding comes from the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) under the EU4Health program.

The team developed RANGER (RApid Next Generation Sequencing for Effective Medical Response) to help doctors diagnose complex respiratory conditions quickly and easily at the patient’s bedside. It uses a device that automates the sample preparation process with the push of a button. With results available in 6 hours, hospitals can better manage patient care by quickly identifying conditions, reducing the need for long isolation periods, unnecessary treatments, and expensive hospital stays.

“TGen is focused on translating genomic findings to the clinic and the RANGER project and the outstanding collaborators involved are excellent vehicles for setting precedents in the translational research space,” said Schork, whose lab co-published findings on the initial version of the system under development and evaluated in the proposed research.

The team plans to execute the RANGER program in three steps. In the first step, Ginkgo will team up with technology partners, including TGen, to combine existing technologies at different development stages into a single device. In the second step, the device will undergo clinical trials in hospitals across the EU, in partnership with UZ Leuven (Belgium), Karolinska University Hospital (Sweden), and Tartu University Hospital (Estonia). Upon trial completion, if successful, Ginkgo will work with regulatory experts at the QbD Group to get EU certification for specific analytes and sample types, before launching the test on the market.

“If successful, this could lead to faster triage, improved patient outcomes, and a stronger frontline response to both seasonal illnesses and potential future pandemics, supported by ongoing research and innovation in healthcare,” said Schork.

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