U.S. Commercial Market Widens for Distribution of First Multi-Factor Genetics-Based Breast Cancer Risk Test

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InterGenetics®, a personalized medicine company focused on molecular diagnostics and targeted therapy for cancer, announced the addition of fourteen new clinical sites in nine new states for the distribution of OncoVue, the first broadly applicable genetics-based breast cancer risk test. OncoVue incorporates both gene-based information and personal history measures to determine a woman’s future risk of developing breast cancer.

The OncoVue test is now commercially available through 32 breast care centers in the U.S. market through InterGenetics’ Breast Cancer Risk Testing Network that is currently active in 22 states: California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Washington, Tennessee, Idaho, Louisiana, Texas, New Jersey, New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, and Georgia.

“OncoVue is an essential tool to help a woman understand her risk of developing breast cancer far in advance of the disease, so she and her physician can consider prevention and early detection strategies,” said Dr. Craig Shimasaki, InterGenetics’ CEO/president. “Distributing this test only through selected breast care centers around the country maintains the integrity of the early detection process under the specialized care of breast disease experts.”

“The OncoVue test provides a critical new mechanism to risk stratify patients beyond the family history and single gene tests,” noted Dr. Ora Gordon, director and clinical geneticist with the Adult Genetics Program at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. “The overwhelming majority of women at risk for breast cancer do NOT carry a single gene mutation such as BRCA1/2. Identifying those at risk, and those who perceive being at an elevated risk but who are in fact at average risk, allows for appropriate screening and prevention on an individualized basis. InterGenetics, unlike other commercial tests purporting ‘breast cancer risk scores’ is based on validated, published studies and a mission to provide the benchmark in quality in translation of genetics to clinical practice.”

The OncoVue test is easy for a woman to perform. First, she answers a simple medical history questionnaire, then swishes a commercial mouthwash and deposits the wash into a tube. In the laboratory, DNA from the woman’s cheek cells is analyzed, along with the data from the questionnaire to assign a numeric score that represents her risk of developing breast cancer at different stages of her life.

www.intergenetics.com