Molecular diagnostics company Insight Genetics and Kindstar Globalgene (Beijing) Technology Inc are partnering to enhance cancer care in the People’s Republic of China and surrounding regions.
The new partnership begins with a licensing agreement that allows Kindstar to add Insight Genetics’ Insight ALK Screen™ lung cancer test to Kindstar’s menu of tests that improve cancer diagnosis and patient care. Kindstar’s diagnostic services, which are offered from its laboratories in Wuhan, Beijing, and Shanghai, help physicians properly diagnose diseases and allow them to develop treatment plans for patients suffering from hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, and genetic diseases.
Insight Genetics’ test broadens the company’s ability to help doctors select the best possible treatments for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Kindstar expects to launch Insight ALK Screen to its clinician and hospital customers throughout China, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, and Macau in July 2012.
Insight ALK Screen is a real-time PCR-based test that detects cancer-causing fusions and mutations of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). ALK fusions and mutations have been shown to be a contributing cause in approximately 5-10 percent of lung cancers. The test offers fast, accurate and comprehensive results that inform a physician if a patient’s cancer is associated with ALK.
Comparison testing has shown that Insight ALK Screen has many benefits over other ALK testing methods, including fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The assay offers the accuracy and reliability advantages of a qPCR platform without the need for validated primer pair for each fusion. Unlike a variant-specific multiplex strategy, Insight ALK Screen can detect the presence of any fusion within the ALK gene. It also can identify ALK upregulation without using a secondary platform.
Source: Insight Genetics
