IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cellgen Diagnostics, a leading precision diagnostics company, and Genomic Testing Cooperative (GTC), a pioneer in molecular testing, today announced a strategic collaboration to help accelerate global development of companion tests for various oncology therapeutics. The collaboration, between GTC’s Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), artificial intelligence (AI) based biomarker discovery service and Cellgen’s integrated companion diagnostics platform will provide the pharmaceutical industry a seamless integration of biomarker discovery, validation and development of in vitro diagnostic companion assays (IVD).
Companion diagnostics (CDx) enables precision medicine by making sure the correct person is taking the correct therapies. The companies expect the first application of their collaboration will be in immuno-oncology (I-O).
“This collaboration integrates GTC’s extensive experience in biomarker identification and companion diagnostics development with Cellgen’s ground-breaking technology to bring unparalleled technical harmonization to the precision oncology industry,” said Lavance Northington, Founder and CEO of Cellgen Diagnostics. “Through this industry-leading partnership, we believe we can improve the pace and pathway of drug development by showcasing the transformative potential of immuno-oncology therapies to patients around the world with an offering that will be unmatched in the industry.”
Cellgen will provide a fully automated companion diagnostic platform that can be leveraged across multiple drug pipelines. Cellgen Immune Panel assays will allow pharma groups in R&D to use a standard approach to patient stratification and therapeutic response monitoring during clinical trials and into the clinic. Genomics Testing Cooperative combines next generation sequencing, machine learning and deep-learning to comprehensively profile the tumor microenvironment and create unique patient phenotypic profiles. Synergies between both companies will enable biopharmaceutical companies to make more informed decisions regarding their immuno-oncology pipelines.
“Genomic Testing Cooperative was established as a diagnostic company focused on innovation and democratizing the advances in medical diagnostics through a co-op business model,” said Dr. Maher Albitar, founder and CEO of GTC. “Cellgen will provide an amplification-free platform for measuring RNA and testing DNA abnormalities in under 2 hours. We believe this collective approach will be paradigm-shifting for our pharmaceutical partners because it will reduce the cost and timeframe of pivotal clinical trials by guaranteeing better patient classification throughout the drug development process.”
The collaboration will initially focus on next generation sequencing applications in early-stage clinical programs to allow researchers comprehensive information from a single sample for molecular classification. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
About Cellgen Diagnostics
Headquartered in Irvine, California with R&D lab facilities located in San Diego, California, Cellgen is focused on developing and commercializing a non-invasive precision medicine platform that can detect circulating nucleic acids, such as mRNA in white blood cells in under 2 hours. Running on its proprietary platform, Cellgen’s disposable cartridge assays will essentially function as a diagnostic memory stick that measures the genetic expression of a patient’s immune system to determine if their immune profile is a match for a particular targeted treatment. Cellgen’s world class team consists of experienced diagnostic, clinical and entrepreneurial executives that have unique insights into the development of a successful start-up enterprise through initial product launch and venture exit. To learn more about Cellgen Diagnostics, please visit www.cellgendx.com
About Genomic Testing Cooperative, LCA
Genomic Testing Cooperative (GTC) is a privately-owned molecular testing company located in Irvine, CA. The company operates based on a cooperative (co-op) business model. The company offers its patron members a full suite of comprehensive genomic profiling based mainly on next-generation sequencing. Molecular alterations are identified based on rigorous testing with the aid of specially developed algorithms to increase accuracy and efficiency. The clinical relevance of the detected alterations is pulled from numerous databases using an internally developed software. Relevance of findings to diagnosis, prognosis, selecting therapy, and predicting outcomes are reported to members. The co-op model allows GTC to make the testing and information platform available to members at a lower cost because of a lower overhead. GTC depends on the co-op members for marketing, sales, and billing. For more information, please visit www.genomictestingcooperative.com
