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LabCorp introduces GeneSeq: Carido for familial cardiac disease

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings today announced it has launched its clinical next generation sequencing assay, GeneSeq: Cardio for genetic causes of familial cardiac disease.

26 Feb 2013

Quest Diagnostics signs definitive agreement to sell HemoCue business for $300 million

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its HemoCue diagnostic products business to Radiometer Medical ApS for a purchase price of approximately $300 million plus customary adjustments for cash balances.

From Quest Diagnostics 25 Feb 2013

Dako, Panagene sign supply agreement for PNA oligomer component

Panagene announced it has signed a supply agreement with Dako Denmark A/S to supply PNA oligomer key component for incorporation into Dako's diagnostic or research products. Dako, an Agilent Technologies Company since June 2012, is a leading global provider of tissue-based cancer diagnostic solutions.

22 Feb 2013

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia patients often inherit small-effect changes in several genes rather than a large-effect mutation in a single gene

Research published Online First in The Lancet provides new evidence that a substantial proportion of individuals with a clinical diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) inherit a combination of small-effect changes in several genes (polygenic) rather than a large-effect mutation in a single gene (monogenic).

22 Feb 2013

Team Danmark, Global Health Partner enter exclusive collaboration agreement

Through its subsidiary Gildhøj Privathospital, Global Health Partner is entering into an exclusive collaboration agreement with Team Danmark to provide Denmark's leading elite athletes with sports medicine and sports surgery.

22 Feb 2013

IntegraGen, Lab21 collaborate to develop new microRNA assay for colorectal cancer

Lab21 Limited, the global specialist in personalised medicine and clinical diagnostics, has entered into an agreement with IntegraGen, a leading player in the development and marketing of molecular diagnostic testing in autism and oncology, to develop a microRNA assay for colorectal cancer designed to further improve patient outcomes.

22 Feb 2013

Breast cancer tests: an interview with Dr Steven Quay, CEO of Atossa Genetics

Breast cancer is a major concern throughout the world. It is the number 1 cancer among women and in the Western world it generates approximately one new case per minute: 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

22 Feb 2013

Medidata Solutions fourth quarter net revenues increase 24% to $58.6 million

Medidata Solutions, a leading global provider of cloud-based clinical technology solutions that enhance the efficiency of clinical development, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2012, and provided detailed financial guidance for the first quarter and full year 2013.

21 Feb 2013

Quest Diagnostics offers access to a new non-invasive prenatal test developed by Natera

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX), the world’s leading diagnostic information services company, and Natera, a leading innovator in prenatal genetic testing, today announced that Quest Diagnostics will offer physicians access to Panorama™, a new non-invasive prenatal test developed by Natera.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Feb 2013

Cancer genetics pioneer, Bert Vogelstein, awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Bert Vogelstein, M.D., co-director of the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator has been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. He was selected for his landmark work in cancer genomics and tumor suppressor genes.

21 Feb 2013

Blog examines potential impact of sequestration on global health

Noting "several federal agencies released new details about the impact of sequestration on their budgets and programs," the Global Health Technologies Coalition's Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog.

21 Feb 2013

BCHE gene variant predicts extent of plaque deposits in Alzheimer's

A study combining genetic data with brain imaging, designed to identify genes associated with the amyloid plaque deposits found in Alzheimer's disease patients, has not only identified the APOE gene -- long associated with development of Alzheimer's -- but has uncovered an association with a second gene, called BCHE.

21 Feb 2013

New test for leprosy gives results in less than 10 minutes, New York Times reports

"A simple, fast and inexpensive new test for leprosy offers hope that, even in the poorest countries, victims can be found and cured before they become permanently disabled or disfigured like the shunned lepers of yore," the New York Times reports.

21 Feb 2013

Childhood cancer on the rise across the developing world

Across the developing world, childhood cancer is on the rise, and mortality is high. Once thought of as a rich world disease, cancer is a growing health threat across low-income and middle-income countries (LMCs). A major new Lancet Oncology Series by some of the world’s most eminent cancer experts outlines the biggest challenges to treating childhood cancer in developing nations and proposes strategies to improve care for children and young people.

20 Feb 2013

Possible alternative to biopsy discovered for renal cancer diagnosis

Combining positron emission tomography scanning with iodine-124 (124I)–girentuximab may offer an effective noninvasive method of diagnosing clear cell renal cell carcinoma in patients who present with a renal mass, US study results suggest.

20 Feb 2013

Chiasma, Roche enter agreement to develop and commercialize Octreolin

Roche and Chiasma Inc., a privately held biopharma company, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Chiasma's proprietary product Octreolin, initially for acromegaly and subsequently for neuroendocrine tumors.

19 Feb 2013

Vaccine prices and availability: an interview with Kate Elder, Vaccines Policy Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières's Access Campaign

One of the key reasons why children are missed by immunization programs, particularly in developing countries where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works, is that the products that we currently have in their present formulation are not well-suited to the places that have the most un-immunized children. These are the most challenging contexts to work in.

19 Feb 2013

Fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany

Researchers have determined that fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany. Results appearing in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder rather than a categorical illness. Additionally, a number of fibromyalgia cases in the general population satisfy proposed criteria for physical symptom disorder—the presence of one or more physical symptoms that impair function, which cannot be explained by another clinical or psychiatric illness.

19 Feb 2013

Real-time PCR reproducibility improved by handheld electronic pipette

INTEGRA has reported how a leading US clinical diagnostic laboratory has, using a VIAFLO 96 handheld electronic pipette, significantly improved the reproducibility and productivity with which it carries out Real-time PCR assays.

From INTEGRA Biosciences 19 Feb 2013

Spherical nucleic acids could revolutionize biomedicine

Northwestern University's Chad A. Mirkin, a world-renowned leader in nanotechnology research and its application, has invented and developed a powerful material that could revolutionize biomedicine: spherical nucleic acids (SNAs).

16 Feb 2013