Berkeley HeartLab enters into collaborative agreement

Berkeley HeartLab (BHL), a subsidiary of Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA), announced today that it has entered into collaborative agreements with Geisinger Medical Center and Proven Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory service recently launched by Geisinger Health System.

Through a co-marketing agreement, Proven Diagnostics will provide select diagnostic tools from BHL’s menu of proprietary cardiovascular tests and services. Aimed at optimizing cardiovascular treatment, these include BHL’s 4myheart cardiovascular disease management program.

Also, Proven Diagnostics and Geisinger Medical Center will be the first external clinical laboratories to have access to KIF6, BHL’s proprietary genetic test. The KIF6 gene encodes kinesin-like protein 6 (KIF6). Published research studies have shown an association between KIF6 and cardiovascular risk and statin benefit. This agreement allows Proven Diagnostics and Geisinger Medical Center to offer a more personal treatment approach for those with cardiovascular disease. Testing under the agreement will be performed by BHL.

These agreements were made under Proven Diagnostic’s Portfolio of Excellence program. Proven Diagnostics seeks highly specialized laboratories to strengthen its growing menu of laboratory tests. In addition, Proven believes that agreements such as these help ensure that patients receive the most advanced cardiovascular laboratory testing.

Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

“We are delighted to be working with Berkeley HeartLab as we incorporate their proprietary cardiovascular tests into our menu. For instance, KIF6 testing helps our physicians identify patients at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease and help guide disease management,” said Candice Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Proven Diagnostics.

"By combining Proven Diagnostics’ leading capabilities with our innovative content and services, such as KIF6 and 4myheart, we believe we provide a more personal approach to cardiovascular disease management," said Chris Hall, Senior Vice President, Berkeley HeartLab. "We have a number of other genetic discoveries that we believe could improve the treatment of cardiovascular disease, and we’re delighted to be moving this forward by providing tests and services to the betterment of Proven Diagnostics’ customers."

As part of Geisinger Health System, Proven Diagnostics has embraced the notion of innovation – one area that has garnered Geisinger national attention from the media and from President Barack Obama. And Proven Diagnostics is taking an innovative approach to its delivery of services, with programs such as the Portfolio of Excellence.