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Michigan Health, IGC to Launch Genomics Support Company for Clinics, Researchers

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The University of Michigan and the International Genomics Consortium have partnered to create a nonprofit company to provide genomics services and analysis support for physicians in the clinic and for researchers in clinical trials.

The new entity, called Paradigm, will rely on expertise from U-M Health System and IGC to provide doctors and health care organizations access to whole gene and multi-gene sequencing and molecular diagnostic services. The new company will be based in Ann Arbor and will have operations at IGC's headquarters in Phoenix, and it is being created under the Michigan Health Corporation, the UMHS branch that enables outside partnerships.

The university said Paradigm will complement other DNA services already offered by UMHS, including the DNA Sequencing Core and the MLabs reference laboratory in the Department of Pathology.

Jay Hess, a co-founder of Paradigm and chair of the pathology department at U-M Medical School said the nonprofit company will seek to "harness the power of genetic information to guide patient therapy and improve outcomes.

"IGC has a proven track record of bringing molecular diagnostics to market, yet shares our nonprofit patient-focused vision," Hess added.

"Paradigm builds on our ever-increasing understanding of the interplay of multiple disease-causing genes and how this affects sensitivity to specific treatment regimens," Robert Penny, Paradigm's CEO and co-founder, said. "We will bring our expertise to bear to create true personalized medicine options for clinicians and their patients."

Paradigm's services will initially focus on supporting oncologists, pathologists, academic medical centers, and clinical trial groups focused on personalized medicine.

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