Veranome Biosystems and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Enter Collaboration and Licensing Agreement to Develop Advanced In-Situ Sequencing Technologies

• Veranome expands its spatial omics intellectual property portfolio into unbiased in-situ sequencing to address a broader set of applications with the Veranome Spatial Analyzer.
• In-licensed portfolio from Cold Spring Harbor includes BARseq in-situ sequencing assays and associated data analytics.
• Veranome and Cold Spring Harbor are developing a range of new applications using BARseq technology, particularly in neuroscience for highly multiplexed long-range neuro-mapping assays.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Veranome Biosystems LLC announced today that it has entered a collaboration and licensing agreement with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) that adds in-situ sequencing technology to Veranome’s spatial omics portfolio. Veranome now has one of the most comprehensive portfolios of assay technologies that can allow targeted mapping of cellular spatial gene expressions with multiplexed in-situ hybridization (ISH) as well as de-novo profiling of cellular transcripts using in-situ sequencing. The expanded assay portfolio coupled with Veranome’s advanced imaging capabilities will enable customers to explore a broad range of applications, including characterization of cell and gene therapies methods and CRISPR screens. Veranome will further develop these high-sensitivity assay chemistries to offer researchers the ability to profile archival FFPE tissue blocks with the same spatial resolution as fresh frozen samples when analyzed on Veranome’s Spatial Analyzer.

Veranome’s broad portfolio aims to enable neuronal projection mapping, subtype classification, and elucidation of the functional organization of the brain. As part of the agreement, Veranome will collaborate with CSHL professor Anthony Zador to further accelerate these in-situ spatial technologies particularly within neuroscience. Professor Zador’s technology is on the cutting edge of neuroscience tools being employed in research, as highlighted recently in the journal Nature¹.

“We are excited to enter into this new collaboration with CSHL to promote further development of novel assay and analytical solutions that support advancement of spatial omic platforms,” said Hareem Maune, Product Manager at Veranome Biosystems. “By adding these foundational and exciting new in-situ sequencing assays, Veranome now has the ability to offer its customers not only the high-throughput mapping of biological heterogeneity in tissues with cyclic ISH, but also an unprecedented multiplexed sequencing ability to explore functional biology at the single cell level using a common imaging platform.”

“The workflow and imaging know-how required to collect the data using the genetic barcode methods is like an art form,” said Anthony Zador. “This makes these powerful technologies difficult to deploy. I am excited about the potential for Veranome’s expertise in automation and process control to simplify and accelerate data collection and analysis.”

“We see tremendous opportunities in both basic research and drug discovery for applying Veranome’s in-situ sequencing technology. The most exciting application we envision is for the characterization of CRISPR-based screens in model organisms,” said Brian Hilbush, Head of Applications at Veranome Biosystems. “Current methods such as single cell sequencing lack spatial resolution and are unable to track gene editing events and their consequences in a tissue context for CRISPR models. The new technology will provide further insights by enabling correlation of CRISPR edits with gene expression changes, cellular morphology and the tissue microenvironment in these CRISPR-engineered organisms.”

Veranome and collaborators will have multiple posters and presentations on its novel spatial omics platform at this year’s AGBT conference, including the below subset of presentations:

• Illuminating mammalian brain taxonomy with new tools and strategies from Veranome Biosystems’ spatial biology toolkit, Hilbush, et al.
• Spatial analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples using Veranome’s highly multiplexed FISH workflow, Teo, et al.
• A highly reproducible and robust system for subcellular in-situ single-cell spatial transcriptome profiling of human brain tissue, Edridge, et al.

About Veranome Biosystems
Veranome Biosystems LLC, an Applied Materials company, provides the spatial analysis market with a reliable, easy-to-use, end-to-end multi-omics solution. We enable researchers to deepen their understanding of diseases with high-quality data of how individual cells organize within tissue, using robust workflows, reliable imaging systems and without the need for extensive bioinformatics tools or infrastructure. Veranome’s unique combination of genomics expertise and world-class high-speed diffraction limited optical imaging capabilities enables researchers to access in-situ spatial omics and elucidate reliable disease insights with unsurpassed data quality. For more information, please visit www.veranomebio.com.

¹ “An expanding molecular toolbox untangles neural circuits, Nature 599”, 335-337 (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03054-9

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