This article has been updated to reflect the involvement of Thermo Fisher Scientific.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genomics England announced today that its is collaborating with Inivata and Thermo Fisher Scientific to assess the potential of liquid biopsy testing to improve disease management and outcomes for cancer patients.
In the first phase of a larger pilot study, Inivata will use its InVision circulating tumor DNA test and Thermo Fisher will use its own liquid biopsy technology to analyze the quality of about 500 blood plasma samples donated by participants in Genomics England's 100,000 Genomes Project. The partners are also planning to assess the utility of liquid biopsy for the discovery of mutations that can lead to or indicate the presence of cancer.
These results, and those from the two subsequent phases of the study, will be shared with researchers around the world.
"As a company with a strong UK heritage, we are delighted to have partnered with the 100,000 Genomes Project, a world-leading initiative which is committed to keeping the UK at the forefront of medical innovation and care," Inivata CEO Michael Stocum said in a statement. "This pilot study will enable us to combine our efforts through the sharing of insights and the assessment of how liquid biopsy technology could ultimately transform cancer care within the NHS, saving lives and money."
Joydeep Goswami, president of clinical next-generation sequencing and oncology at Thermo Fisher, added, "We are encouraged by this and other efforts across the globe, such as the Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer Consortium, that are focused on advancing new testing approaches to help drive better health outcomes in the future."
In September, Inivata announced it had partnered with the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Research Institute on a study to determine whether the InVision platform had a role in measuring minimal residual disease in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients after they have undergone surgery, in order to predict which patients need further treatment and which are more likely to have been successfully cured by surgery alone. The partners also said they hoped to study the utility of ctDNA testing for detecting early signs of recurrence.