Roche Launches Genomic Profiling Kit for Cancer Analysis
Swiss drugmaker Roche has launched a genomic profiling kit that it has developed in conjunction with Foundation Medicine. The Basel-based company is supplying the kit across Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
Their first jointly developed product, the Avenio Tumor Tissue Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) kit will allow laboratories to expand their in-house cancer research. The kit uses a gene panel that can analyze 324 cancer-related genes across four main classes of genomic alterations and signatures that are known to cause cancer. Each of the kits is configured for running 24 samples, with the entire process completed in five days.
“To treat cancer effectively, we must understand what drives it at a molecular level. CGP helps inform decisions about available treatment options, including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, tumor-agnostic treatments and clinical trial participation, based on the unique genomic profile of a patient’s tumor,” said Thomas Schinecker, CEO of Roche Diagnostics.
“We are bringing powerful insights from CGP to enable smarter, more efficient research and development. Our new kit provides the information researchers need and will ultimately provide insights physicians can use to develop personalized treatment strategies for individual patients,” he added.
In January 2020, Roche entered into a 15-year agreement with US company Illumina to develop, manufacture and commercialize Avenio tests for both tissue and blood for use on Illumina’s in-vitro diagnostic systems. The companies’ aim is to broaden global adoption of next-generation sequencing for predicting, detecting, treating and monitoring cancer.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
