NEW YORK – MyOme and Broad Clinical Labs (BCL) said Monday that they are supporting nonprofit Southern Research for a program called Catalyst that will provide genetic testing for personalized health risk assessments free of charge to patients in Alabama.
The goal is to provide primary care providers in Alabama, which ranks low within US states for life expectancy and health system performance, with actionable information about their patients’ health risks.
Financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.
Participants in the program, which is slated to start this month and will be available to patients and their providers across the state of Alabama, will gain access to MyOme's genetics-based risk assessments for rare diseases, various cancers, cardiac conditions, metabolic disorders, and other common diseases, as well as to the Menlo Park, California company's pharmacogenomics test. BCL will provide whole-genome sequencing services for the tests.
MyOme has developed both single-gene and polygenic risk score tests. Last year, the company published the results of its multi-ancestry breast cancer PRS, developed in collaboration with Natera, demonstrating improved performance over tests incorporating only the standard Tyrer-Cuzick model.
Doctors in Alabama will be able to order the tests through MyOme's provider portal. Samples will be collected in the clinic and sent to BCL for genomic sequencing. MyOme will then analyze the results via its CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited bioinformatics and report generation platform, after which reports will be made available to providers and patients through the company's portal. MyOme will also provide no-cost genetic counseling, if needed. De-identified patient samples will be stored at the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), which is run out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, for anonymized population health research studies on the impact of access to clinical, biological, and social data on patient outcomes.
"By providing a single sample, these patients and their providers will have access to MyOme's industry-leading, genetics-driven clinical reports including a proactive screen for rare, single-gene alterations, a pharmacogenomics report measuring response to over 70 common medications, and our integrated PRS reports for coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast cancer," MyOme CEO Premal Shah said in a statement. "They will also have access to our expanding menu of reports for other diseases."
For a more in-depth look at the Catalyst program, click here.