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Arima Genomics to Offer NGS-Based Gene Fusion Test Through Protean BioDiagnostics CLIA Lab

NEW YORK – Protean BioDiagnostics and Arima Genomics said Tuesday that the firms had reached an agreement for Protean to offer Arima's test used to identify drivers of cancer and target therapies through Protean's CLIA-certified and College of American Pathologists-accredited laboratory.

The next-generation sequencing-based Arima Gene Fusion Test is used to identify clinically actionable gene fusions in tumor tissue from cancer patients, and Protean said it plans to offer the test in the first half of 2023 through its laboratory in Orlando, Florida.

Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Chris Roberts, senior VP of corporate strategy for Carlsbad, California-based Arima, said in a statement that Arima's technology identifies gene fusions and rearrangements missed by other methods.

“We’ve shown that, in previously characterized tumor specimens from patients with no known actionable driver, we detect alterations in druggable targets in one-third of cases," he said. "This improvement in diagnostic yield will provide more opportunities for physicians to match the driver of an individual patient’s cancer to a targeted therapy."

The firms said their partnership will also allow them to support the biopharma industry through prospective enrollment of patients into clinical trials that could help improve understanding of the molecular drivers of cancer.

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