PentaBase

Eurostars project together with Danish Technological Institute and Istituto Cantonale Di Patologia ranked as #1 application in 2013. Using novel DNA chemistry we have developed diagnostic kits tailor-made for Lung Cancer fulfilling the need for extreme sensitivity for the limited amount of cancer material. The kit prototypes has been validated on clinical samples. A kit for following patient during treatment is also developed. ”Eurostars promotes international cooperation. The project SensiScreen Lung is one of many examples of how companies, universities and other organizations have joined forces to develop new solutions. In this project PentaBase, a Danish biotech company, collaborated with Danish Technological Institute and Instituto Cantonale Di Patologia, a Swiss reference laboratory. The project ran from 2013 to 2016. There was high expectations for this project. The application received the best evaluation out of 600 applications.” Eurostars, 2019.

Through a collaboration with Novo Nordisk and Rigshospitalet, PentaBase has helped to increase the testing capacity for COVID-19 in Denmark. The scientists developed an innovative and resource-effective solution to establish the presence of nucleic acids from SARS-CoV-2 in humans. By optimising and combining the three assays of the conventional Covid-19 test panel recommended by WHO, a sensitive and specific multiplex test was created. PentaBase’s multiplex assay allows for amplification of Viral N1 and N2 genes and the human RNAse P internal control in a multiplex reaction, in a single tube. This means that one sample can be analyzed in one tube in contrast to three tubes used in conventional testing. Therefore, the testing capacity is tripled while the dependency on consumables such as plasticware and RT-qPCR Mastermix is reduced. This method has an improved target sensitivity and specificity which decreases the risk of false positive.