This article has been updated with information from Pathway clarifying the CancerIntercept test's current marketing in the US, and descibing how it will be available in Japan.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Pathways Genomics announced today that it has partnered with two affiliated Japanese firms — G-TAC and M3 — to market 14 of its cancer genetics and fitness genetics tests in Japan.
Among the tests covered by the new partnership are Pathway's CancerIntercept blood-based tumor profiling test; its BRCATrue NGS test; its PathwayFit genetic fitness profile test; and its SkinFit skin health assay.
Under the agreement, M3 and G-TAC plan to promote the 14 Pathway tests through G-TAC's consumer- and physician-facing personalized medicine platform, which is connected to M3's physician network. The combined platforms cover 80,000 "users" and a network of 20,000 physicians, the partners said. G-TAC will also provide telemedicine counseling with licensed genetic experts for consumers who receive Pathways tests.
"With thorough localization in Japan, we will be able to provide convenient access for physicians and consumers to the world’s leading genomic and personalized medicine diagnostics," Shotaro Uematsu, CEO of G-TAC and president of the genome business group at M3, said in a statement.
In the US, Pathway recently attracted negative regulatory attention due to a lack of scientific evidence for the accuracy and utility of the CancerIntercept test, and for appearing to employ a "direct-to-consumer type model" of testing.
The test is currently only available through a patient's physician in the US and this will also be true of the marketing of the test in Japan, a Pathway spokesperson said.