News Highlights

News about and goings on at FUSION GENOMICS:

Season’s Greetings

As we celebrate this holiday season we thought we’d take a moment to tell you about some of the wonderful things that FUSION GENOMICS accomplished in 2016 and what we’d like to see happen in 2017.

As you know, FUSION’s mission is to develop simple-to-use molecular diagnostics for infectious disease pathogens that are responsible for major global health problems. In doing so, we aim to establish new paradigms for how diseases are surveyed, monitored and treated in the hopes of preventing future epi- and pandemics and saving lives.

First and foremost, we now have 3 ONETest assay kits that are market ready and available for purchase, ONETest Influenza Sentinel, ONETest Influenza EnviroScreen, and ONETest Hepatitis. We also further developed and optimized our FUSIONCloud online bioinformatics data analysis platform and it is now ready to analyze the sequencing data from all our ONETest kits and rapidly deliver the answers our clients are seeking.

FUSION GENOMICS also had several important presentations this past year. We were proud to have a poster of our ONETest Influenza Sentinel showcased at the Options IX for the Control of Influenza annual conference in Chicago this year (Embedding next generation sequencing in influenza surveillance and influenza vaccine effectiveness studies, season 2015/2016, the Netherlands, by Meijer A, de Lange M, Donker G, Overduin P.).

In August, a scientist from BC presented a paper at the 65th International conference of the Wildlife Disease Association in Cortland, NY (Genomic analysis of wetland sediment as a tool for avian influenza surveillance and prevention) which used our ONETest Influenza EnviroScreen to identify bird flu in wetlands and small water bodies on infected farms.

FUSION’s CEO, Mohammad Qadir also gave a talk, (ONETest Molecular Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases) in Toronto at the Tenth National Microbiology Diagnostics Users Group Fall Meeting and Annual Conference 2016 which generated a lot of excitement in our approach, products and FUSIONCloud.

January 9-12, FUSION will be at the JP Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference to be held in San Francisco, 2017.

January 14-18, FUSION will also be in San Diego at the International Plant & Animal Genome XXV Conference. January will be a busy month for us!

FUSION was also pleased to be able to expand both our Bioinformatics and Laboratory Teams with 2 new employees each.

Happy Holidays and New Year to all our friends and wishing you a great 2017!

Fusion Breaks into the Product Shows Circuit!

FUSION GENOMICS makes its first appearance at a product trade show, OPTIONS IX for THE CONTROL OF INFLUENZA, held in Chicago from 24-28 August.

The products we showcased were our ONETest Influenza Sentinel, our ONETest Influenza EnviroScreen and our FUSION Cloud. It was a lot of work, fun, and a great learning experience for us with many excellent contacts made for future sales and endeavors.

Fusion’s Bird Flu Test Generates Excitement!

At a presentation given by Dr. Chelsea Himsworth at the WILDLIFE DISEASE ASSOCIATION’s ​​​​65TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on August 5th, Dr. Himsworth showed that Fusion’s ONETest™ Influenza Enviroscreen* clearly outperformed PCR in tests analysing wetland waterfowl sediments for the presence of bird flu virus.

Wild waterfowl are an important host vectors for transmitting the bird flu strains that infect the poultry industry. If we can detect, identify and track the strains that are present in wetlands adjacent to or near poultry producing facilities, there is a greater chance of preventing costly outbreaks in birds being raised for market.

Wetland sediment sample to be processed for influenza typing

Wetland sediment sample

Our ONETest™ Influenza Enviroscreen is the only test that reliably and accurately detects the influenza virus in wetland sediments and it also identifies viral genotypes and subtypes which could give poultry producers much needed additional time and information to protect their stocks from infection.

*For Research Use Only