NEW YORK, June 22 (GenomeWeb News) - Specialty Laboratories will use Celera Genomics' genetic data to develop a test to predict the risk for patients with hepatitis C virus of developing liver cirrhosis, the companies said today in a statement.
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Specialty will pay Celera an upfront fee after it has validated a test, and it will pay Celera royalties on net sales in the United States, according to the statement. The companies did not disclose further financial details.
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The companies believe a genetic test may be useful for a larger number of HCV-infected patients than currently used methods, Celera and Specialty said.
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"Currently, there is an unmet medical need for a predictive method to determine which patients with chronic HCV are likely to develop fibrosis and progression to cirrhosis," said James Peter, founder and chairman of Specialty, in a statement.