Israel-based OncoHost recently announced the official launch of its PROphet non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) test in the United States.

PROphet guides first-line treatment decisions for advanced unresectable NSCLC patients. It gives clinicians actionable clinical insights into optimal first-line therapeutic choices and a better understanding of their patients’ personalized cancer dynamics. In one pretreatment blood test, PROphet scans approximately 7,000 proteins in patients’ plasma and delivers a report that predicts their clinical benefit from anti-programmed death 1/anti-programmed death ligand 1 (anti-PD-1/PD-L1) immunotherapy-based treatment plans.

The PROphet algorithm is trained on OncoHost’s large-scale clinical trial, which has more than 1,500 patients from 40 sites worldwide, making it one of the largest prospective cohorts in the precision oncology field. The NSCLC test is supported by a blinded validation demonstrating that it accurately predicts a patient’s clinical benefit and associated overall survival differences with single-agent versus combination treatment plans, the company noted.

OncoHost officials said that although driver mutation detection is an essential factor in determining effective treatment, approximately 85% of all patients diagnosed with NSCLC do not have any detectable driver mutations. In these cases, the test, when combined with PD-L1 results, helps predict the best treatment plan for each individual patient.

The officials added that the PROphet report will offer personalized insights on the predicted clinical benefit of immunotherapy.

BIOSERO AND ALTEMISLAB COLLABORATE TO STREAMLINE AUTOMATED SAMPLE MANAGEMENT WORKFLOWS

Biosero and AltemisLab have announced a collaboration aimed at streamlining sample management automation.

The collaboration will enable scientists to integrate AltemisLab’s AlteCap Swift CELL screw-cap decapper into sample management workflows controlled by Biosero’s Green Button Go laboratory automation software. The rapid decapper device has interchangeable cassettes to allow for use with tubes from any manufacturer and any SBS-compliant tube format. Now the device can be controlled through Biosero’s suite of laboratory automation software to enable fully automated workflows and extended laboratory productivity even in the absence of human operators.

AltemisLab officials said they are committed to developing products that work as standalone devices on the lab bench but can also be integrated into an automated work cell.

Biosero officials said the collaboration will add more capabilities for the company’s users in the future.

FLAGSHIP BIOSCIENCES AND GENOMENON PARTNER TO ADVANCE PRECISION MEDICINE

Flagship Biosciences and Genomenon recently announced a partnership to transform the drug development paradigm with accelerated biomarker discovery and companion diagnostics development solutions.

Since acquiring Interpace Pharma Solutions, Flagship has expanded its portfolio to include proven cytogenetic, molecular pathology, and genomic profiling solutions. Partnering with Genomenon will further enrich its genomic profiling capabilities with the breadth of published clinical genomic evidence only available in the Genomenon Mastermind knowledgebase, according to Flagship.

Genomenon said its AI-driven platform delivers disease-specific genomic datasets that identify a comprehensive set of causative variants for a specific disease. These troves of genomic information—known as variant landscapes—will complement Flagship’s work by accelerating its assay development, validation, and deployment services that support precision medicine drug trials, biomarker discovery, and companion diagnostic development.

As a result, this partnership will further enhance new genomic profiling services for biomarker characterization and improved patient stratification for clinical trials and treatment selection and will allow Genomenon to deliver more precise genomic profiling, insights into biomarker characterization, and better patient stratification for clinical trials and treatment selection.

HURDLE AND CLOUDLIMS PARTNERSHIP TO AUGMENT DIAGNOSTIC LAB CAPABILITIES

CloudLIMS and Hurdle have announced a strategic partnership that the companies say involves the first-ever integration between a Diagnostic-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform and a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) laboratory information management system (LIMS) provider.

The partnership brings together Hurdle’s remote diagnostic platform and CloudLIMS’ secure, purpose-built Diagnostics LIMS workflow to allow labs to offer at-home tests and manage lab processes and data efficiently. As a result of this collaboration, Hurdle’s partner labs, such as reference labs and clinical diagnostic labs, will now be able to seamlessly manage lab data, automate workflows, and follow regulatory compliance.

These labs also will be able to extend their services to patients present in infectious disease hotspots, remote locations, and underserved communities who are unable to travel to the lab location to get themselves tested. Additionally, labs can improve their offering to existing B2B customers by providing Hurdle’s white-labeled kits.

“We experienced the importance and convenience of conducting diagnostic tests from the comfort of our homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Arun Apte, CEO of CloudLIMS. “Today, fortunately, the pandemic is largely behind us, but labs want to continue to offer their customers the same convenience. Our partnership with Hurdle will allow our customer labs to do exactly that.”

CYTEK BIOSCIENCES TO ACQUIRE FLOW CYTOMETRY AND IMAGING BUSINESS FROM DIASORIN

DiaSorin and Cytek Biosciences have announced that Luminex Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of DiaSorin, has an agreement with Cytek to sell most of its assets related to the Flow Cytometry and Imaging (FCI) business unit.

The FCI business unit, acquired by Luminex in October 2018, is based on both conventional flow cytometry and image-based flow cytometry instrumentation, which provide insights into all facets of cellular phenotypes and morphology. The FCI business unit includes dedicated commercial, operations, R&D, and supporting personnel.

Cytek said that adding the Amnis imaging flow cytometers to its robust lineup of cell analysis solutions will provide researchers and scientists with tools that combine high-resolution cell images with the speed, sensitivity, and phenotyping abilities of flow cytometry. The addition of the Guava flow cytometers will expand Cytek’s core instrument offerings, adding cost-effective, entry-level, and personal instrument options to broaden the market and research areas it services.