MedGenome said today it has completed a $30 million Series C financing, with the genomics research and diagnostics company directing proceeds toward its biomarker discovery programs and further development of its OncoPept™ suite of cancer immunotherapy biomarker solutions. The financing will allow genomic and biopharma researchers in the U.S. and…

A team of investigators from Stanford University has just released data on their efforts to develop a new iquid biopsy test that can detect genetic mutations in minute amounts of DNA released from cancer cells into the blood using a relatively simple PCR-based assay.   The results from this study—published…

Illumina has won FDA approval for its Extended RAS Panel, a next-generation sequencing (NGS) kit for use with the company’s MiSeqDx System to help clinicians identify patients eligible for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with Amgen’s marketed drug Vectibix® (panitumumab). “Together with Amgen, we've developed a companion diagnostic test…

Qiagen’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology will be used by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to develop gene expression profiles as predictive or prognostic tools for several of the pharma giant’s immuno-oncology (I-O) therapies. The companies said they intend initially to develop gene expression profiles for “several” BMS I-O molecules, without specifying which…

Two Pore Guys (2PG) has closed $24.5 million in Series A financing, which the company says will be used to scale up manufacturing of its hand-held, point-of-use testing system, expand its executive team, and advance its two-pore technology for whole genome sequencing and genome mapping. The system consists of a…

Liquid biopsies in oncology initially focused on detecting and analyzing the numbers and types of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood, but more recently many researchers have come to include analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). cfDNA testing was first used in the United States…

Like many hospitals affiliated with medical schools and medical research, doctors at Vidant Health in Eastern North Carolina had been dabbling in the use of liquid biopsies, to both ease the burden of invasive tissue biopsy procedures, and to learn about how well it could provide relevant information to guide…

The Flanders Organization for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) has awarded a €750 million ($796,000) grant to molecular diagnostics company Biorcartics to support continued development of the company's fully automated microsatellite instability (MSI) test for colorectal cancer (CRC) on its MDx Idylla platform. The test, currently scheduled for launch in 2018…

Angsana Molecular & Diagnostics said today its RNA-based fusions cancer panel will be used for screening TRK, ROS1 and ALK fusions in Ignyta’s Phase II registration clinical trial for its anti-tumor candidate entrectinib. Angsana will be a partner molecular test laboratory for Ignyta’s STARTRK-2 trial, working with the drug developer…

Scientists at The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified novel genomic and molecular characteristics of cervical cancer that should aid in the subclassification of the disease, and may help target therapies that are most appropriate for each patient. The new study, published recently in Nature through an article…

Investigators from Sorbonne University in Paris have now assessed the feasibility and the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, a significant advance in a hard-to-diagnose disease that is expected to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. by 2030. There remain several…

Minimally and noninvasive molecular diagnostics hold the potential to change the prognostic measures physicians use daily in clinical medicine dramatically. Leading the way are liquid biopsies—tests that are able to harvest and sequence tumor DNA from patients’ blood samples. Now this simple blood test can rapidly and accurately detect mutations…

The age of fast, accurate, and noninvasive cancer screening is rapidly becoming reality. The power of next-generation sequencing has allowed molecular diagnostic techniques to sample small amounts of blood for the genetic hallmarks of tumorigenesis. These liquid biopsy procedures, as they have been dubbed, typically search for circulating tumor DNA…

Amoy Diagnostics and Illumina are embarking on a collaboration to speed up the adoption of precision medicine and targeted therapies in China. Amoy will develop and commercialize a series of oncology-related tests based on Illumina's next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms, including the recently released research-use-only TruSight Tumor 15 as transferred from…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report that in a genome-sequencing study of pancreatic cancers and blood in 101 patients at least one-third of the patients' tumors have genetic mutations that may someday help guide precision therapy of their disease. Results of blood tests to detect DNA shed from…