NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Sysmex and Laboratory Corporation of America today announced a strategic collaboration to develop blood-based molecular diagnostic tests for personalized cancer care.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sysmex Inostics will provide reagents and services to allow Covance Drug Development, a LabCorp subsidiary, to perform so-called OncoBEAM and Plasma-Sequencing testing services to support clinical trials in oncology. Sysmex Inostics' OncoBEAM and Plasma-Seq assays allow researchers to perform genetic analysis of cell-free tumor DNA from blood samples. The two firms will also evaluate opportunities to develop commercial applications for the Sysmex technologies in clinical diagnostics.
The partnership brings together Sysmex Inostics' ability to develop diagnostic tests with LabCorp's existing involvement in clinical trials and ability to commercialize such tests, the firms said in a statement.
"This collaboration will allow us to expand Sysmex Inostics' testing services and products using LabCorp's worldwide network of central laboratory locations," Sysmex Chairman and CEO Hisashi Ietsugu said in a statement.
LabCorp acquired Covance in November 2014 for $6.1 billion.