Invitae Makes a Precision Oncology Push With $886M Deal for ArcherDx
Summary
Cancer treatment is increasingly moving toward targeted therapies based on the genetics of a patient’s tumor and Invitae is ensuring it gets its share of this growing market with a deal to acquire precision oncology startup ArcherDx. Speaking on conference call Monday, CEO Jason Myers said that current diagnostics technologies, such as medical imaging, tend to find cancer too late for the disease to be treated effectively. He added that his company aims to “democratize” genomic testing, most of which is primarily done at academic medical centers even though about 85 percent of patients receive cancer care at regional or community hospitals. A second product, Personalized Cancer Monitoring (PCM), uses a blood sample to measure disease progression and the effectiveness of a therapy, as well as to help clinicians make and refine treatment decisions. Invitae CEO Sean George said on the call that his company has partnered with biopharmaceutical firms through more than 90 alliances that involve finding patients with specific genetic variants that can be treated with commercialized drugs.
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