Flatiron, Guardant Partner on Cancer Genomics, Analytics

(Public Domain Pictures/Pixabay)

19 August 2015. Guardant Health, a provider of genomic analysis from liquid biopsies, and Flatiron Health, a provider of electronic records and analytics for cancer patients are collaborating on a cloud-based platform to support research leading to targeted therapies for cancer patients. The companies expect the service to be available in the first half of 2016.

Guardant’s technology offers genomic sequencing of blood samples provided by cancer patients, rather than tissue sample biopsies often requiring invasive surgery. The company, in Redwood City, California, says its platform performs a digital sequencing of genomes from the blood samples that makes it possible to tell true cancer-causing mutations from noise and distortions returned from even modern next-generation genomic sequencing. Its main service, known as Guardant 360, tests for 68 genes comprising some 150,000 base pairs.

Flatiron Health, in New York, provides data analytics for cancer research and therapeutics that the company says delve deeper into clinical experiences than most other systems based largely on data from insurance claims. Among the company’s offerings is Oncology Cloud, a cloud-based electronic health database designed for data related to cancer, that includes an electronic health record created for cancer patient data with analytics and billing modules. The service also includes a portal for patient access.

The collaboration is expected to integrate de-identified data from Guardant 360 on clinical treatments and outcomes into Flatiron’s Oncology Cloud, in a service designed for life sciences companies. The new offering, say the companies, will help cancer researchers reveal new molecular targets, gain new applications for cancer therapies, reduce the time needed to recruit patients for clinical trials, and follow patients and their progress over time.

In June 2015, National Cancer Institute selected Guardant 360 to provide DNA testing for a study uncovering resistance mechanisms for non-small cell lung cancer, as well as identify future treatment options for the disease. In May 2015, as reported in Science & Enterprise, Flatiron Health and Varian Medical Systems in Palo Alto, California agreed to integrate their systems to better accommodate radiological images, Varian’s, specialty, in Flatiron’s electronic medical records.

Read more:

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• Software Companies Integrate Cancer Analytics, Patient Mgmt
• Gene Editing Harnessed to ID Cancer Targets

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