Paragon Genomics Launches its CleanPlex® Target Enrichment Solution at AACR 2017

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2017 — AACR 2017 — Paragon Genomics, a life science company dedicated to improving the critical upfront target enrichment and library preparation workflow for Next-Generation Sequencing, is launching its CleanPlex® target enrichment solution. It is a patented amplicon sequencing technology, debuting at AACR Annual Meeting 2017 together with its CleanPlex OncoZoom® Panel covering the hotspots of 65 key oncogenes, panels covering the entire coding regions of specific genes (CleanPlex BRCA1 & BRCA2 Panel and CleanPlex TP53 Panel), and a CleanPlex® Targeted Library Prep Kit.

Paragon Genomics CleanPlex background cleaning technology effectively removes non-specific PCR products generated during highly multiplexed PCR reactions, resulting in higher sequencing on-target rates, better assay sensitivity and lower assay failure. This 10-minute digestion step is crucial in achieving high-quality libraries before targeted sequencing. Its well-designed multiplex PCR assay workflow removes the DNA fragmentation, hybridization and ligation processes associated with traditional hybrid capture-based methods. The entire workflow from purified DNA to a library ready for sequencing takes only 2.5 hours.

The Company graduated from Stanford’s StartX Accelerator Program in the Fall of 2016. The StartX Accelerator Program is a highly selective, 10 week program that runs customized tracks for its founders, based on the industry and stage of each company. Historically, the acceptance rate has been between 8%-10%. “When we reviewed Paragon Genomics application, we clearly recognized the talent of the team and their vision to change the world and felt that they were a great fit to our community,” said Joseph Huang, CEO of StartX. “They have been a great addition to the StartX Med community, among many of the best entrepreneurs in biotech, medical devices, digital health.” Paragon Genomics was successfully matched to its mentor Dr. Joe Keegan, CEO of ForteBio, a serial entrepreneur who recently stated, “I was happy to work with the Paragon team as they got ready to commercialize their NGS library technology. We had good meetings discussing sales strategies, building the executive team and targeting customers.”

About Paragon Genomics:

Headquartered in South San Francisco, Paragon Genomics is a growing life sciences company developing and commercializing rapid, high-quality target enrichment solutions for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) labs and the precision medicine industry. Its patented CleanPlex Technology solves the urgent quality and efficiency bottlenecks of NGS target enrichment workflow and is applicable to many fast-growing markets such as cancer liquid biopsy, immunotherapy guidance, and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). The Company was selected by a distinguished panel into the California Life Science Association F.A.S.T. Program in March 2016 and was accepted into the prestigious Stanford StartX Accelerator Program in September 2016. For more information, visit www.paragongenomics.com.

About StartX:

StartX is an industry- and stage-agnostic nonprofit organization that seeks to enhance the success of the highest potential entrepreneurs in the Stanford University network by providing tactical help, experiential education, funding, and a vast network of mentors and investors. For more information, visit http://startx.com/.