Quest Diagnostics and the precision immunology company Scipher Medicine have announced a collaboration with the goal of advancing precision medicine for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Under the multi-year collaboration, Quest will provide RNA extraction and next-generation sequencing services for Scipher's PrismRA test. The assay is a blood-based molecular signature response classifier that predicts patients’ responses to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy and helps them avoid unnecessary dose escalations or drug cycles.
Quest also will provide specimen collection at approximately 7,300 of its locations — including physicians’ offices and patient service center locations — and through courier logistics services that include transport of patient specimens between Quest and Scipher laboratories and provider sites.
The collaboration centers on Quest's next-generation sequencing capabilities at its advanced laboratory in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Quest will extract and sequence RNA from PrismRA blood specimens to identify approximately 24 molecular traits associated with response to TNFi therapies. RNA transcripts in the blood can be incorporated into Scipher’s molecular classifier analysis, which predicts the biology that underpins drug response.
Scipher will incorporate this molecular data with patient data and results of anticyclic citrullinated peptide, an RA antibody marker, from testing at its North Carolina laboratory. Through electronic health records, physicians receive a personalized report with a score indicating predicted response based on analysis of the complete set of laboratory and patient data.
Previous data published by Scipher indicates RA patients with moderate and high disease activity, whose treatment was guided over 6 months by PrismRA, had a nearly two-fold clinical improvement in Clinical Disease Activity Index scores, compared to patients whose therapy was not guided by PrismRA results, according to Quest.
ROCHE TO ACQUIRE LUMIRADX POINT-OF-CARE TECHNOLOGY
Roche Diagnostics announced an agreement to acquire parts of LumiraDx’s point-of-care technology.
According to Roche, the transaction is part of its plan to enable more patient-centric healthcare in multiple care settings, including the home, pharmacy, general practitioner’s office, emergency room, and intensive care unit. The acquired technology platform offers a wide range of immunoassay and clinical chemistry tests on one portable device. These tests can be stored at room temperature, enabling convenient handling in a range of decentralized healthcare settings, according to Roche.
By leveraging its extensive global reach and established affiliate network, Roche will be able to drive access to timely, accurate diagnostic results when and where patients need them most, the company added.
Close of the transaction is expected by mid-2024, according to Roche.
ATALAN ADDS TRICORE TO ITS CLINICAL PARTNERSHIP
Atalan, a clinical partnership that provides doctors and medical centers access to a vetted network of clinical laboratories, recently announced the addition of TriCore to its network.
TriCore adds to Atalan’s list of College of American Pathologists ISO 15189-accredited providers.
Atalan’s network of laboratories share the ability to eliminate excess capacity, reduce costs, and improve profit, according to the company. This arrangement allows labs to expand their reach and foster collaborative innovations, the company said.
TriCore is an independent, not-for-profit clinical laboratory providing more than 2,900 full-service, state-of-the-art laboratory tests to healthcare professionals and their patients. TriCore also offers analytics and research services supporting healthcare and scientific organizations worldwide.
According to Atalan, it vets its growing list of laboratory partners to add to the cumulative strength of the network.
EUROIMMUN AND XPEDITE DIAGNOSTICS PARTNER ON POC DNA EXTRACTION
Euroimmun, a franchise of Revvity, and Xpedite Diagnostics recently announced a strategic partnership to offer faster and easier protocols for DNA extraction at the point of care.
Current users of the Euroimmun EUROArray diagnostic platform will receive the EUROArray SwiftX-traction Kit for rapid manual DNA extraction, the company said. In less than 30 minutes, the kit extracts DNA from various challenging sample types in just a few steps. The new extraction method is currently under validation in combination with several CE-marked EUROArray products.
Xpedite Diagnostics intends to register the extraction kit itself as a CE-IVD, according to Euroimmun.
Xpedite Diagnostics officials said that the EUROArray SwiftX-traction was tailored specifically to the needs of users of the EUROArray diagnostic platform and is based on their SwiftX Toolbox.
CENTOGENE AND LIFERA ENTER COLLABORATION
Centogene, a rare disease company that focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, and Lifera, a biopharmaceutical company wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have announced a joint venture to increase local and regional access to multiomic and genomic testing.
The resulting Lifera Omics will provide this testing to health systems, biopharma clients and institutions with patients in Saudi Arabia, and countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The joint venture will build a laboratory and bioinformatics infrastructure that leverages the Centogene Biodatabank, which the company said is the world’s largest real-world integrated multiomic data repository in rare disease biobanks globally.
The joint venture is intended as a vehicle for large national screening and genomics programs. Patients in Saudi Arabia and the GCC, a rapidly growing region with more than 56 million inhabitants, will have increased access to advanced, effective diagnostic offerings. These diagnostics are the core of Lifera’s strategic objective to contribute to improving national resilience and health outcomes in Saudi Arabia, according to the companies.