NEW YORK – Genomate Health said this week it entered into an exclusive distribution partnership with Vietnam-based Digosys, a subsidiary of Thabis. Under the terms of the agreement, Digosys will use its Genous service to distribute Genomate Health's precision oncology therapeutic response tool Genomate throughout Vietnam.
Aspira Women’s Health said this week that it has expanded its comarketing and distribution agreement with BioReference to include its OvaWatch test. OvaWatch, which is intended for assessing the risk of ovarian cancer in women with an adnexal mass evaluated as indeterminate or benign, received approval from the New York State Department of Health’s Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program in October, making it available to women in that state. The comarketing agreement previously covered only Aspira’s OVA1Plus test, which it continues to cover.
Jessica Marathe, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Adelaide and an interventional cardiologist with Central Adelaide Local Health Network in Australia, has received a $75,000 grant from the Heart Foundation Australia to investigate genetic causes of underdiagnosed cardiovascular conditions, specifically coronary vasomotor disorders, the university said this week. With the funding, Marathe and colleagues will perform genomic sequencing on 120 people with the disorder to try to identify genetic markers associated with the condition. The findings could underpin efforts to develop and trial targeted therapies, Marathe said.
The National Health Service (NHS) in Wales and Illumina have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to "foster coproduction in genomics and promote seamless integration across the health and social care system in Wales," the partners said in a statement this week. The MoU will build on existing research into lung cancer diagnostics, with the ambition to further expand into other cancer types and into wider areas of genomics with the aim of prevention, earlier diagnosis, and personalized treatments, the partners said. The agreement has been signed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Cardiff University, Public Health Wales, and Illumina Cambridge Limited, in collaboration with the Welsh government and facilitated by Life Science Hub Wales and Genomics Partnership Wales.
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Bayer, this week said that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted it rare pediatric disease designation and orphan-drug designation for its investigational gene therapy candidate for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I/R9, AB-1003. AskBio is evaluating the safety of AB-1003, which is also known as LION-101, within the Phase I/II LION-CS101 trial.
The Lupus Research Alliance this week launched the Data Repository, Exchange and Analytics Platform, abbreviated as DREAM, on which researchers can access longitudinal patient data, including molecular data and lupus patients can access educational resources, participate in research studies, and access their data. DREAM is the final component of the organization's Lupus Nexus, a research resource for precision medicine drug discovery and development comprising a registry, biorepository, and quality management system.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on Precision Medicine Online.