NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Epic Sciences will make its circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology available to Laboratory Corporation of America and support cancer trials in Asia through LabCorp's Covance Drug Development subsidiary, the companies said today.
Under the agreement, Covance will process patient samples in Singapore and send them to San Diego for CTC analysis at Epic's clinical lab, which garnered CLIA certification earlier this year. Epic will analyze samples using its so-called No Cell Left Behind technology, which the firm claims gauges 6 million cells across more than 90 parameters to pick up all varieties of CTCs.
The latest agreement expands on Epic and LabCorp's deal last year to speed up sample processing for CTC analysis within European clinical trials. "The expansion of the partnership with LabCorp will provide an important access point for all oncology clinical trials conducted in Asia and meet the global demand for Epic's circulating tumor cell technology," Epic CEO Murali Prahalad said in a statement.
LabCorp acquired contract research firm Covance last year for about $6.1 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition closed on Feb. 19 and contributed $267.2 million to LabCorp's revenues in the first quarter, driving 19 percent growth in revenues year over year.