NEW YORK – Yourgene said on Friday that it has been awarded a contract worth an estimated £232,000 ($321,000) to supply its Elucigene DPYD testing kits to NHS Wales.
The contract award, due to start in July, is for a period of 12 months with the option to extend for a further 12 months. The Elucigene DPYD genotyping test screens cancer patients prior to the start of treatment with the chemotherapeutic drug 5-Fluorouracil to identify those with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency, who may experience severe and sometimes lethal side effects from 5-FU treatment.
Last year, Wales was the first nation within the UK to routinely offer DPYD screening to all patients, with Yourgene being the sole provider, the company said.
There has been a significant increase in the demand for the test, leading the All Wales Genomics Laboratory, or AWMGL, to award Yourgene this contract. As the Elucigene DPYD kit has already been validated, AWMGL allowed Yourgene to skip an extensive tender process, the firm added.
"We are extremely pleased to be awarded this tender to supply our IVD-marked oncology product to NHS Wales, with our differentiated technology deemed the only technology suitable for meeting the lab requirements to deliver the service," Yourgene CEO Lyn Rees said in a statement.