SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-- Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced the launch of the Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel1, a custom solution that can be added to a standard next generation sequencing (NGS) workflow, offering fully customizable and highly cost effective panels to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) in as few as five days.

Twist’s customers develop MRD tests that can be used in a variety of ways for patients with cancer. MRD testing is a non-invasive method for tracking and predicting cancer progression over time, using simple blood draws to track low levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood. MRD testing can be used during cancer treatment to determine if there are tumor cells remaining and to assess whether a treatment plan needs to be adjusted. This testing can also be used after a patient achieves remission to monitor for recurrence of cancer cells.

“When it comes to monitoring minimal residual disease, which can inform treatment options for patients with cancer, there is no time to waste. With the Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel, we are able to rapidly create custom panels for our research customers, including panels specific to each sample’s unique genetic variance of cancer in as few as five days,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “MRD is becoming the gold standard for monitoring cancer and informing personalized treatments for patients. Through this panel, we facilitate the research and development of our customers in developing new MRD solutions that clinicians can use to benefit their patients.”

The Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel can be incorporated into a standard NGS workflow and applies hybrid capture technology to sequence specific regions that may provide customized disease insights to researchers. This technology provides broader coverage than PCR or amplicon sequencing methods, potentially improving sequencing sensitivity and expands utility.

To develop the custom panels, Twist receives targets of interest that have been identified by the customer through sequencing specific tumor cells. Twist then designs the probe sequence in a single day, manufactures and ships the panel in five business days, drastically reducing the waiting period typical of custom products and enabling quick response times. The Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel leverages Twist’s existing protocols for target enrichment, allowing it to be performed simultaneously with established Twist whole exome NGS workflows.

About Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel

The Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panel is the latest product in Twist’s expanding portfolio of research use only sequencing products dedicated to improving the performance and accessibility of research tools for advancing R&D in oncology solutions. Paired with Twist’s cfDNA pan cancer reference standards, UMI adapter system, and leading Exome 2.0 product line, the Twist MRD Rapid 500 Panels bridge the gap between costly comprehensive sample screening and small fixed content tests.

About Twist Bioscience Corporation

Twist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by “writing” DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research.

Twist Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause Twist Bioscience’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Twist Bioscience’s business in general, see Twist Bioscience’s risk factors set forth in Twist Bioscience’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2022 and subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Twist Bioscience specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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