NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Foundation Medicine today announced the launch of the Precision Medicine Exchange Consortium (PMEC), a partnership program to advance personalized oncology.
PMEC will begin with US-based academic medical centers, regional hospital systems, and community oncology providers to exchange molecular information and clinical outcomes data and integrate comprehensive genomic profiling into cancer treatment.
Founding members of PMEC include The Cleveland Clinic's Taussig Cancer Institute; Hackensack University Medical Center; The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University; the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University; the University of California, Davis Health Comprehensive Cancer Center; the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; and The Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Members will have access to a suite of information tools and programs including a shared data exchange platform of de-identified matched clinical outcomes and genomic data contributed by Foundation Medicine and PMEC members to support research and clinical innovation; clinical research programs that integrate comprehensive genomic profiling to improve cancer care; and training, education, and other member services programs.
"Progress in cancer care will be achieved by breaking down the information silos that exist in healthcare and collaborating toward clinically robust and relevant data exchange," Brian Bolwell, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute, said in a statement.
Foundation Medicine CMO Vincent Miller added the firm was "actively seeking new members who share PMEC's vision" and that it would welcome conversations with additional cancer centers, data and informatics organizations, and payers in the US and internationally.
In June, Foundation Medicine partnered with healthcare IT firm IMS Health to interpret oncology outcomes.