The Genomic Center of Nanocenters 'Technospark' and 'Dubna', Russia and Strand Life Sciences, India to Co-develop Tests for Diagnosis of Inherited Diseases

BANGALORE and MOSCOW, June 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

ReadSense, a genomics company at nanocenter TECHNOSPARK (Troitsk), and Strand Life Sciences, the world leader in the implementation of bioinformatics in personalized medicine, have signed a cooperation memorandum. According to the memorandum, Strand and ReadSense will jointly develop affordable tests based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) for the diagnosis of genetic pathologies such as hereditary forms of epilepsy and primary immunodeficiency disorders (PI). Moreover, Strand will engage in technology transfer in the field of genomic data analysis and bioinformatics and share their unique experience in the development of their diagnostic business in the United States and India. As part of this cooperation, ReadSense will conduct the DNA analysis of blood samples and use the integrated solutions developed by Strand to interpret the results. The focus areas of work include neurology, gastroenterology, and pulmonology.

"The main reason for these genomic methods being implemented on a limited scale in Russia's medical practice is their inconsistency with Russian clinical reality and the rejection of the medical community. Our genomic center collaborates with medical institutions on the basis of the request of clinicians themselves, which creates the demand in R&D. This cooperation with Strand will help us to use the best international practices for solving the wide range of tasks from a selection of personalized genetic tests for the patient to clinical interpretation of whole-genome analysis," says Vladislav Mileiko, CEO of ReadSense Genomic Center.

Talking about this partnership, Dr Vijay Chandru, Chairman & CEO, Strand Life Sciences, said, "Strand has a focus on affordable and ethical use of genomics for providing genuine healthcare value to patients and physicians globally. ReadSense shares these values and we are excited about this partnership. With our combined scientific insights, the partnership will produce superior products for Russia and for the world."

In the near future the partners are planning to release in the Russian market diagnostic tests for the most demanded groups of hereditary diseases, namely neurological disorders and PI. The implementation of such tests in the format of 'test panels' that combine symptomatically similar diseases will assist their introduction into clinical practice and give more valuable information to the physician as compared to routine tests.

About Strand Life Sciences 

Founded in 2000, Strand is a personalized medicine company offering next-generation sequencing (NGS) based targeted multi-gene panels for cancer and other diseases. Strand works with oncologists, pathologists, community hospitals, and biopharmaceutical companies to enable faster clinical decision support for accurate molecular diagnosis, prognosis, therapy recommendations and clinical trials. For larger hospital systems, Strand offers an innovative customizable turnkey solution called Strand SmartLab. Strand's solutions are used at over 2,000 laboratories and 100 hospitals world-wide. Strand develops and offers NGS-based genetic and genomic tests for cancer and other diseases from the company's central reference laboratories in Aurora, Colorado, and Bangalore, India. Strand Life Sciences is a portfolio company of Biomark Capital Fund IV, L.P. Biomark Capital is a venture capital and private equity firm with the focus in healthcare and life sciences companies, with its offices operating in Moscow, San Francisco and Greenwich (USA).

www.strandls.com

About ReadSense Genomic Center 

"ReadSense" Genomic Center (LLC "ReadSense", Moscow, Russia) specializes in the creation of clinical solutions on the basis of genomic medicine. One of the key activities of the company is the implementation of integrated solutions for the diagnosis of rare and inherited diseases into Russian clinical practice. LLC "ReadSense" is a project company of the nanocenters "Technospark" (Troitsk) and "Dubna".

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SOURCE Strand Life Sciences