NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Myriad Genetics said this week that BioMarin Pharmaceutical will use its BRACAnalysis test in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical study for BMN 673, an orally active PARP-inhibitor designed to induce synthetic lethality in BRCA-deficient cells. Myriad has submitted an Investigational Device Exemption to the US Food and Drug Administration that would allow the BRACAnalysis test to be used as a companion diagnostic to stratify patients in the BMN 673 clinical program, as required by FDA. The companies originally reached a deal for use of BRACAnalysis on BMN 673 in 2011.
Quest Diagnostics completed the sale of its Enterix colorectal cancer screening test business to Australian firm Clinical Genomics Technology for an undisclosed amount. The transaction includes the Insure FIT product line. Quest anticipates to record a loss on the sale of the business of about $25 million after tax, or $.17 per share.
Norwegian molecular diagnostics company Genetic Analysis raised $2 million to fund the CE marking and launch of its DNA-based GA-map test for dysbiosis in irritable bowel syndrome patients. The company said that it plans to launch the test at the United European Gastroenterology Week conference later this month.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been selected by Exosome Diagnostics for participation in an early technology access program for use of exosome RNA biofluid extraction kits for biomarker discovery in neonatal and other disease settings. The goals of the Exosome Center of Excellence program are to receive feedback from clinical researchers on the performance of the EXO50 kit, and to generate clinically relevant data that can be used in the research setting immediately. The technology, Exosome said, "will enable clinicians to perform real-time biomarker analysis on patient plasma and serum samples, allowing for the advancement of personalized medicine."
Sigma-Aldrich late last week announced a quarterly cash dividend of $.215 per common share payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 29.
CLC bio and BioBam Bioinformatics announced an integrated workflow that combines the Blast2Go Pro plugin and CLC Genomics Workbench. The workflow is for researchers working with non-model organisms without reference sequences, and allows them to combine and integrate next-generation sequencing bioinformatics data analysis on one platform.
Cellular Dynamics International has been added to the US small cap Russell 2000 Index. The company will remain in the index until it is rebalanced in June 2014. Membership is based on membership in the broad market Russell 3000 Index.
Biogazelle is serving as a reference laboratory for Bio-Rad's QX200 Digital Droplet PCR system in Europe. Biogazelle is using the platform in its R&D programs, and its lab serves as a live research environment for prospective customers of the system.
In Brief This Week is a Friday column containing news items that our readers may have missed during the week.