PierianDx and Pillar Biosciences Announce Partnership to Support Precision Cancer Care

Multiple targeted assays from Pillar Biosciences to be combined with the PierianDx platform to reduce time, cost, and complexity of clinical genomic testing

ST. LOUIS & NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PierianDx, the leading clinical genomics informatics company, and Pillar Biosciences, a leading next-generation sequencing clinical oncology company, today announced a partnership that enables Pillar Biosciences to sell directly the PierianDx clinical genomic report in combination with its cancer profiling assays. Under the agreement, PierianDx will integrate the Pillar Biosciences PiVAT® bioinformatics pipeline in the PierianDx environment to provide users with an accelerated implementation, including assay-specific variant filters, to produce best-in-class clinical genomics reports and enable a complete sample-to-answer solution.

Laboratories worldwide use Pillar Biosciences’ assays to detect pivotal genetic variants for cancer and other diseases. Pillar Biosciences’ targeted panels utilize a proprietary enrichment chemistry, SLIMamp®, that enables rapid, automated amplification of overlapping amplicons in a single tube using minimal sample inputs. Pillar Biosciences’ complementary bioinformatics pipeline, PiVAT^®, is optimized for efficiency, reducing reflex testing and enabling low-frequency variant calling for every type of variant while consuming limited computing resources. PierianDx provides the Clinical Genomics Workspace™, which consists of intuitive software and a robust clinical Knowledgebase that transforms variant information into a highly-structured and comprehensive physician-ready report.

Streamlining NGS along with clinical genomic interpretation and reporting, especially for sophisticated panels, remains time-consuming and challenging. By packaging the Pillar Biosciences panels with the PierianDx report, the result will be an out-of-the-box clinical genomic report that is optimized for each assay. Furthermore, the solution will be available to customers globally through secure, and in the case of European regions, Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-compliant, cloud instances. As a result, laboratories and healthcare organizations worldwide will have a highly reliable method for providing these tests to enable precision diagnostics and treatments for their patients.

“The assays from Pillar Biosciences provide robust detection for all variant types in a simplified workflow,” states Gang Song, PhD, CEO of Pillar Biosciences. “By optimizing variant filters and integrating with the PiVAT pipeline, PierianDx is streamlining interpretation and reporting, which adds substantial value for our customers.”

Rakesh Nagarajan, MD, PhD and Founder and Chief Technical and Visionary Officer of PierianDx, adds, “We are thrilled to provide this support for the Pillar Biosciences assays. As the market shifts to more sensitive assays in the LDT space and leading assay manufacturers seek in vitro diagnostic (IVD) approval, we are committed to addressing challenges that arise from even greater complexity in the interpretation and reporting process.”

About PierianDx

Founded in 2014 out of Washington University in St. Louis, PierianDx is focused on advancing cancer diagnostics and making targeted therapeutics more accessible to healthcare systems, laboratories, and patients worldwide. Its industry-leading clinical genomics technologies, CAP and CLIA accredited laboratory, IVD-ready knowledgebase and reporting solution, and expertise deliver the most integrated, trusted, and collaborative approach across the clinical care spectrum. From genomic sequencing and biomedical informatics in the laboratory to reporting and decision support at the patient’s bedside, PierianDx drives the adoption of genomics in clinical care and accelerates the fight against somatic cancer and hereditary germline diseases. www.pieriandx.com.

About Pillar Biosciences

Pillar Biosciences is a clinical cancer diagnostics company based in Boston, Massachusetts and Shanghai, China. Our automatable variant detection technologies deliver robust results with rapid turnaround times through streamlined NGS workflows. Our SLIMamp^®– and PiVAT^®-based products help high-throughput reference laboratories and clinical oncology laboratories make precision medicine practical by boosting their diagnostic productivity.