• UK Intellectual Patent Office (UK IPO) has granted RevoluGen’s third patent covering its spin-based Fire Monkey High Molecular Weight (HMW) DNA extraction/size selection technology 
• RevoluGen now owns controlling IP covering novel chemistry, column matrix and elution method
• Fire Monkey HMW-DNA Extraction/Size Selection produces library-ready homogenous, long-length DNA (average appx. 100kb +) for short- and long-read (hybrid) DNA sequencing
• Available in manual and automated formats, Fire Monkey is at the critical entry point in high-growth DNA sequencing applications (an estimated >$50bn market over the next 10 years)
  
  

London, UK – 12 August 2021 – The UK genomic tools developer, RevoluGen Ltd. (RevoluGen or the Company), today announces that its divisional method patent has been granted by the UK Intellectual Patent Office (UK IPO). This provides RevoluGen with controlling IP for its Fire Monkey High Molecular Weight (HMW) DNA extraction/size selection technology across its novel chemistry, column matrix and now its elution methodology.

This divisional patent, covering the method of elution from the column matrix utilizing elevated temperatures builds on the novel purification column matrix granted patent (priority date: 2019), and the foundational Purispin use granted patent covering the spin-column chemistry (priority date: 2015). 

RevoluGen’s Nucleic Acid Isolation and Purification (NAIP) technology is based on a spin-column protocol to extract HMW-DNA which, despite the use of high g-forces, protects the long and fragile DNA molecules from more massive shearing. This DNA extraction has broad application across both short- and long-read DNA sequencing. These applications include population genomics, epidemiological mutation screening and antibiotic microbial resistance gene monitoring.

“The Fire Monkey technology has the flexibility to support a wide range of HMW-DNA extraction formats, all the way from single manual extractions, through bench-top semi-automation and all the way up to fully automated floor standing machines for high-throughput extraction, all suitable for both short and long read sequencing at scale. Fire Monkey is in routine use in leading research laboratories in its manual spin-column format, with our fully automated 96-well plate format validated on a Tecan Fluent 780 robotic liquid handler using an integrated Rotanda 460 robotic centrifuge,” said Dr Georgios Patsos, inventor of the Fire Monkey technology and CSO at RevoluGen.

Fire Monkey significantly improves sequencing results by extracting long-fragments of DNA with a simultaneous size selection function built into the protocol that minimises the small-fragment DNA contamination of the result. This means that the Fire Monkey extract is immediately library prep ready. DNA extraction is at the critical entry point to all of the high-growth DNA sequencing applications which is a market estimated to grow in size to >$50bn over the next 10 years. 

“The grant of this third patent strengthens RevoluGen’s commercial position significantly. Fire Monkey is a truly disruptive innovation in DNA extraction. It will support everything from the research laboratory use all the way up to massively high throughput, high-quality, cost-effective DNA sequencing and genome assembling. Fire Monkey unites short-read and long-read sequencing, enabling both from the same sample. It provides flexibility to laboratories as they can revisit the same original sample for more detailed long-read sequencing after a first run with cheaper short-read sequencing” said RevoluGen CEO, Pieter Haitsma Mulier. 

“With the acquisition of Circulomics by Pacific BioSciences, Fire Monkey is the only independently owned HMW-DNA extraction technology, applicable across any sequencing platform including Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, as well as PacBio,” added Haitsma Mulier.

RevoluGen’s mentioned granted UK patents form part of a global IP protection strategy including patent and trademark applications filed in foreign territories such as the EU, USA, Japan and China, as well as Australia, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, Fiji and Taiwan, amongst other regions.

Dr Georgios Patsos, Revolugen CSO demonstrates the new validated automated Fire Monkey HMW-DNA extraction robotic system