August 2014, Cofactor Genomics has been awarded a grant by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an institute of the NIH, to develop a standardized enrichment kit and define the normal reference profile for circular RNAs (circRNA) in the nervous system. These types of products could prove critical in advancing studies focused on neuronal development, substance abuse, and psychiatric disorders.

“This is truly an honor for our team, which has developed and refined many of the kits on the market for our industry clients. This is an opportunity to bring Cofactor’s expertise in kit and software development together with our team’s focus on RNA characterization solutions to develop a unique product that addresses a very specific need.” said Cofactor’s CEO Jarret Glasscock.

circRNA, a non-coding transcript present in the cytoplasm, plays a significant role in neuronal development and can serve as biomarkers for psychiatric disorders. Since circRNAs are present in lower abundance than other RNA molecules, and share sequence homology with mRNA, they are difficult to isolate from total RNA. A product that consistently isolates circRNAs paired with a way to confidently characterize normal representation in multiple tissue types are powerful tools for future study and diagnosis.

The circular RNA product represents 1 of 6 RNA-focused products in Cofactor’s development pipeline for 2014/2015.

Cofactor Genomics is a privately held biotechnology company founded in 2008 after the completion of the Human Genome project by Technology Development Scientists from Washington University’s Genome Center in Saint Louis, MO. Cofactor is committed to translating next-generation sequencing based technologies into stable and complete end-to-end product solutions through R&D developments that combine molecular, sequencing, and bioinformatics. Cofactor Genomics is the market leader in RNA based products and services in the rapidly expanding functional genomics market.