ATDBio: Using Oligonucleotides to Assist with the Fight Against COVID-19

ATDBio featured in latest Shimadzu Customer Story


ATDBio's recent work on oligonucleotide synthesis for COVID-19 diagnostics has been highlighted in the latest of Shimadzu's [Customer Stories](https://www.shimadzu.co.uk/customer-stories) series. The article describes how ATDBio is scaling up its oligonucleotide synthesis and purification capability to meet demand from its customers working on COVID-19 diagnostics.

Dr Tom Brown (Jnr), added "Our relationship with Shimadzu goes back many years, and we have recently invested heavily in new preparative HPLC equipment. We're working together to develop new methods for oligonucleotide purification that will allow us to produce more qPCR and LAMP primers and probes at higher purity. This will, in turn, help our customers to develop simpler, faster and more accurate COVID-19 tests."
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Founders look forward to continued focus on customers and innovation

Acquisition of ATDBio by Biotage AB to provide platform for further growth



ATDBio, a leader in complex oligonucleotide synthesis, is pleased to announce that it has been acquired by the Swedish life sciences company [Biotage AB](https://www.biotage.com) for approximately GBP 45m in cash and shares. The acquisition, which provides Biotage with expertise in highly complex DNA and RNA production, will allow accelerated expansion of the UK company’s activities. ATDBio’s founders are joining the Biotage Group as part of the acquisition, continuing to work with existing and new customers on molecular diagnostics, nucleic acid-based therapeutics and vaccines plus new generation DNA and RNA sequencing technologies. Biotage is focused on workflow solutions and products for customers in drug discovery and development, analytical testing and water and environmental testing.

ATDBio was founded in 2005 by Professor Tom Brown (Snr), one of the world's leading nucleic acids chemists, Dr Dorcas Brown, an expert in oligonucleotide synthesis, Dr Tom Brown (Jnr) and Dr Asha Brown. It has laboratories in Oxford and Southampton, UK.

During the [COVID-19](/case-studies/covid-19) pandemic ATDBio has been making nucleic acid primers and probes, working with customers to help them develop simpler, faster and more accurate diagnostic methods. Growth is also being driven by development of next-generation nucleic acid molecular diagnostics and therapeutics, plus gene-editing technologies. Recent developments at the company include funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency, for a novel method of rapid, efficient and automatable production of large quantities of oligonucleotides for COVID-19 testing.

Dr Tom Brown (Jnr), Director of ATDBio, said, 'ATDBio is very proud to be joining the Biotage Group. With its global presence and world-leading separation science expertise, and our leadership in complex oligonucleotide synthesis, our businesses are highly complementary. With this exciting merger we look forward to scaling up our activities with existing and new customers. As ATDBio enters this exciting phase of growth, we would like to sincerely thank our remarkable staff for their ongoing hard work and our customers for their support.'


Better understanding of disease possible with accurate full length identification of all messenger RNA in a cell

Nature Biotechnology publishes ATDBio & University of Oxford single-cell sequencing research


Research on improved techniques for single-cell RNA sequencing by ATDBio, a leader in complex oligonucleotide synthesis, and a research team at the Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, has been published [in the prestigious journal _Nature Biotechnology_](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00965-w). The work demonstrates the ability to determine full-length transcriptomes (all the messenger RNA in a cell) via nanopore sequencing at the single cell level. Bringing better understanding of gene expression in normal and diseased tissue, the new approach has significant potential in diagnostics and the understanding of human disease.

Nanopore sequencing of long nucleic acid sequences, while bringing advantages associated with throughput and economy, has a higher error rate than some other methods. The new approach, termed scCOLOR-seq, allows error detection and correction - an absolute requirement for long read sequencing in single cell applications.

ATDBio brought its knowledge of nucleic acid chemistry and expertise in synthesis of complex oligonucleotide beads to the collaboration, working with Dr Adam Cribbs, Dr Martin Philpott and Professor Udo Oppermann at the Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford. The teams are also working together on related single-cell sequencing research funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency.

Dr Tom Brown Jnr, Chief Scientific Officer of ATDBio, said, 'The new scCOLOR-seq method is the first of many innovations resulting from our collaboration with the Botnar Research Centre team, world leaders in single-cell epigenomics. The collaboration has been one of our most interesting and successful, and we are pleased to see our work recognised in _Nature Biotechnology_. It’s a great example of how ATDBio can apply its expert knowledge of nucleic acid chemistry and complex oligonucleotide synthesis to difficult problems in biology and beyond, together with our corporate and academic partners.'


Leading nucleic acid maker evolves activity & builds on pandemic experience

ATDBio establishes molecular diagnostics lab to support customer research


ATDBio, a leading innovative manufacturer of synthetic DNA and RNA oligonucleotides, has established a new 745 sq ft molecular diagnostics research and quality control laboratory at The Oxford Science Park. Driven by its experience during the coronavirus pandemic, this expansion will support its customers in developing improved molecular diagnostics for COVID-19 and other pathogens. The new laboratory has the potential to accelerate ATDBio’s growth and improve the UK’s preparedness for future severe outbreaks of infectious disease.

In establishing the molecular diagnostics laboratory the company will recruit and train several new staff, some of whom will work to develop better quality control tests for oligonucleotides than those commonly used. Other initial projects that the company will work on include new qPCR probes to be used in faster diagnostic tests, and further development of its [novel LAMP primers and probes](/news/2021/new-atdbio-grant-to-improve-oligonucleotide-synthesis-for-covid-19-tests) for COVID-19 testing.

Over the course of the pandemic, ATDBio has invested significantly in equipment to increase its DNA manufacturing capacity more than 10-fold, recruiting extra staff and supplying oligonucleotides for tens of millions of tests. Other changes include conversion of an R&D laboratory into a production facility to meet the demand for DNA oligonucleotides for COVID-19 testing. ATDBio is a participant in Innovate UK’s prestigious [EDGE Scaleup Programme](/news/2021/atdbio-joins-innovate-uk-edge-scaleup-programme-to-drive-global-growth) in recognition of its exponential growth potential.

Dr Tom Brown (Jnr), Chief Scientific Officer of ATDBio, said, 'The significant increase in demand for our oligonucleotide products last year, driven by COVID-19 testing, has further underlined the importance of DNA and RNA oligonucleotides across diagnostics and therapeutics. Establishment of this molecular diagnostics facility will enable us to deepen our expertise in this area and help our customers develop new products. We look forward to welcoming new staff as part of this expansion which will help us meet our ambitious growth targets.'
