Lab21 and ITOR launch Clinical Genomics Center in USA
06/03/2012
Cambridge, UK – 6 March 2012 - Lab21 Limited, the global specialist in personalized medicine and clinical diagnostics, today announces the launch of a new Clinical Genomics Center located within the Greenville Hospital System (GHS) Memorial Medical Campus in Greenville, South Carolina.
The center will be physically located within the GHS Institute for Translational Oncology Research (ITOR) as part of an on-going collaboration to facilitate the introduction of complex biomarker analysis into routine cancer patient management. This represents a long-standing commitment from the local oncology community and Lab21 to introduce state-of-the-art next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology as part of its growing translational medicine clinical services portfolio in the US.
"Bringing this leading-edge technology to the cancer clinic represents a significant breakthrough and the culmination of a seven-year journey," said Dr. Joe Stephenson, medical director for ITOR. "This genomics center is another major step towards fulfilling our vision to provide personalized cancer care – better enabling us to offer the right drug, at the right time, to the right patient."
The establishment of this center was facilitated through a strategic relationship with Life Technologies who are providing their new Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine as the key launch platform technology. Michael Bolick, President of Lab21 Inc., explained "we conducted extensive due diligence on the underpinning technology for the center and are confident that our engagement with Life Technologies will enable us to offer a comprehensive and cost-effective NGS service to the oncology community."
Lab21's CEO, Graham Mullis, said: "This is a major step forward for Lab21 in North America and we are delighted to be working with Dr. Joe Stephenson and the team at ITOR in this fast changing market of personalized medicine. The establishment of this center underlines our commitment to our personalized medicine strategy and to introduce state-of-the-art molecular services and products into North America. It also reinforces our relationship with ITOR and the potential to use this technology for clinical trial applications with a view to identifying new biomarkers which can subsequently build our proprietary companion diagnostic portfolio. Importantly, it marks our intention to utilize this NGS technology in other therapeutic areas in addition to oncology. Lab21 is a company with an established business in infectious diseases, particularly virology, and we are already negotiating new contracts to exploit this expertise using NGS technology."
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For further information:
Lab21
Graham Mullis, CEO
Berwyn Clarke, CSO
t: +44 (0)1223 395450
e: [email protected]
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t: +44 (0)20 7457 2020
About Lab21
Lab21 is a global leader in personalized healthcare. It provides diagnostic products and services and supports blood bank screening, medical diagnostics and drug discovery. Lab21 customers include international healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The Products division of Lab21 manufactures immunodiagnostic kits and reagents that are distributed internationally and is focused on infectious diseases for the blood-banking and clinical markets. Our clinical services operations have a growing test portfolio providing companion diagnostics and high technology molecular assays. Lab21's corporate offices are based in Cambridge, UK and Greenville, South Carolina, with a GMP manufacturing site in Cambridge and other manufacturing facilities in Newmarket, Camberley, Manchester and Bridport. Website: www.lab21.com
About GHS
Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) is committed to medical excellence through research and education and is accredited by The Joint Commission. It offers patients a sophisticated network of expertise and technologies through its five medical campuses, tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, physician practices (University Medical Group) and numerous specialty facilities in upstate South Carolina. The 1,268-bed system is home to 14 medical residency and fellowship programs and the state's largest number of active clinical research trials – 613. For the third consecutive year, its flagship Greenville Memorial Hospital has been ranked among the nation's top 50 hospitals in a specialty area in U.S. News' 2011-12 publication of America's Best Hospitals. In July 2012, GHS will welcome the charter class of its four-year medical school, University of South Carolina School of Medicine–Greenville. Visit www.ghs.org for more information.
About ITOR
The vision of the Institute for Translational Oncology Research (ITOR) of Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center is to become an international destination center that develops and delivers innovative, personalized cancer therapies. ITOR brings together comprehensive and complementary cancer care services, technologies and facilities under one umbrella through a focus on translational research and personalized medicine. It includes a nationally prominent phase 1 Clinical Research Unit, a rapidly growing Biorepository Services platform, an Innovation Zone laboratory space for private sector and research university partners, and the just announced Lab21 Clinical Genomics Center. www.itor-ghs.org