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In Brief This Week: Mars Petcare, Bioscience Genomics, Immunovia, and More

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Mars Petcare said this week that it has acquired OptiGen, a DNA diagnostics company specializing in canine inherited disorders, for an undisclosed amount. Included in the acquisition are exclusive licenses to a portfolio of genetic disease tests patented in the US, Australia, and many countries in Europe, and an extensive biobank of more than 150,000 samples collected over 20 years representing various canine eye diseases. Moving forward these samples will be used to discover new genetic health markers for dogs, Mars Petcare said.


Bioscience Genomics and the Institute of Pathology of University Hospital Basel said this week that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a solid cancer prevention program that will use Bioscience Genomics' technology to help manage solid cancer prodromal stage assessments. Bioscience Genomics is a spinout of the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Bioscience Institute, and has developed a proprietary technology called Helifaxe that employs proprietary algorithms and other tools to measure and monitor the frequency of somatic mutations and to assess genetic stability.


Immunovia said this week that the NYU School of Medicine has joined PanFAM-1, a prospective study investigating early diagnosis in high-risk individuals with familial pancreatic cancer. The study is designed to validate Immunovia's blood test, IMMray PanCan-d, and will analyze more than 1,000 individuals over three years across sites in the US and Europe. Other participants in PanFAM-1 include Mount Sinai in New York; Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Massachusetts General Hospital; the University of Liverpool; Ramon y Cajal Institute for Health Research in Spain; University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela in Spain; and Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden.


Human Longevity said this week that it has partnered with nonprofit organization FirefighterAid to demonstrate the benefit of early, advanced screening in high-risk populations like firefighters. The Firefighters will be screened through HLI's Health Nucleus X research protocol, which combines whole-genome sequencing with advanced MRI imaging, paired with core cardiac testing, including CT scanning and heart rhythm monitoring. Up to 100 San Diego firefighters and 10 alternates will be selected to participate in the screening and assessment through a lottery process managed by FirefighterAid and organized by age.


Sysmex Inostics said this week that colorectal cancer patients in Germany insured by public insurance fund Barmer are now covered for the firm's OncoBEAM RAS CRC IVD Test, a liquid biopsy diagnostic that evaluates a patient's RAS mutations from a single tube of blood.


Caris Life Sciences announced this week that the University of South Alabama Mitchell Cancer Institute (MCI) has joined Caris' Precision Oncology Alliance(POA). As a member of the POA, MCI will contribute to efforts to improve standards of care and best practices for precision medicine. MCI will have a special focus on gynecologic cancer and will contribute its expertise as a member of the gynecologic subgroup of the POA. The POA now consists of more than 20 academic, hospital, and community-based cancer institutions, including five NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, Caris added.


Flagship Biosciences said this week it has been awarded CAP accreditation. The accreditation covers all common laboratory services, anatomic pathology processing, and digital image analysis. Based in Westminster, Colorado, Flagship uses its Computational Tissue Analytics and data-driven decision support platform to provide quantitative and contextual tissue analysis.

MNG Laboratories announced this week that it has signed several international distribution agreements for its products in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. MNG now has active distributors for its menu of more than 500 neurogenetic and biochemical tests in Mexico, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Chile. Each distributor was chosen for their clinical expertise, customer service, and technical leadership in their respective markets. MNG did not name the individual distributors.


In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on the GenomeWeb site.