On April 27, 2021 Geneseeq Technology Inc. ("Geneseeq"), a precision oncology diagnostics company, and AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) (STO: AZN) (Nasdaq: AZN), a global biopharmaceutical company, reported their strategic collaboration to establish a Bio-Diagnostic Innovation Center in Guangzhou, China (Press release, AstraZeneca, APR 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234578591]). The center is expected to initiate an integrative and patient-centric program where disease diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation coexist. The center will combine Geneseeq’s expertise in developing clinical diagnostics tools, with AstraZeneca’s deep experience in oncology therapeutics development to produce innovative diagnostics platforms for cancer patients. The collaboration also outlines joint efforts to build a clinical diagnostics laboratory in Guangzhou International BIO-Island.
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On April 23, 2021, AstraZeneca held an opening ceremony and twelve sub-forums for its Symposium Annual Meeting in Wuxi, China. The conference emphasized several meaningful collaborations with industry, clinical, and academic research partners in major therapeutic areas such as oncology, cardiology and nephrology. AstraZeneca’s Global Executive Vice President, the President of Greater China and International Business, Lei Wang, delivered the strategic collaboration announcement between AstraZeneca and Geneseeq at the signing ceremony. He emphasized the establishment of the Bio-Diagnostics Innovation Center, and the center’s planned R&D, educational, and promotional efforts to advance precision medicine access.
"The spotlight for the future of cancer care is on the full-course management approach to bring greater benefits to patients, including perioperative monitoring for early-to-mid stage cancers, and cancer early screening and detection," added by Dr. Yang Shao, the founder and CEO of Geneseeq China. "The theme of today’s conference – multi-faceted collaboration, is another necessary step to achieve this goal."
Geneseeq has provided NGS-based genetic testing service for cancer patients for more than seven years and is well-established in molecular diagnosis for late-stage cancers. For patients with early and mid-stage cancers, Geneseeq introduced SHIELDINGTM in 2021, a perioperative full-course minimal residual disease (MRD) test for solid tumors. The company plans to leverage the MRD dynamic monitoring technologies to guide adjuvant therapy, prognosis and recurrence surveillance to significantly improve patient outcomes and their quality of life.
Strengthening early cancer screening and detection correlates with an increased proportion of patients diagnosed at earlier stages, which effectively prolongs the overall survival of patients and reduces the family and socioeconomic burdens caused by cancer treatment. In the fight against cancer, early screening and detection have become one of Geneseeq’s key focuses. The company developed a multi-omics-based, early cancer screening model, MERCURY. Collaborating with top cancer centers, the preliminary data shows promising performance in liver, colorectal and lung cancer patients with a sensitivity of 80%-95% and a specificity of 98%. To further validate the MERCURY model, a large-scale clinical study was launched in 2020 and is expected to enroll 100,000 participants with a five-year follow-up plan.
Under its collaboration with AstraZeneca, Geneseeq will build its fourth core laboratory in South China, in addition to its laboratories in Nanjing, Shanghai and Beijing. The two companies hope to bring highly scalable and broadly applicable clinical diagnostic tools to cancer patients soon.