Epic Sciences and Fulgent Genetics Collaborate to Deliver DefineMBC™ Results for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients
Epic Sciences scales its workflow for ctDNA testing with Next Generation Sequencing Leader Fulgent
Fulgent Genetics’ expertise in high-volume testing powers Epic’s Comprehensive Cancer Profiling
Epic Sciences, Inc. today announced it has partnered with Fulgent Genetics (NASDAQ:FLGT) to deliver DefineMBC comprehensive profiling results for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. The partnership links Fulgent’s leading CAP/CLIA certified Next Generation Sequencing services with Epic’s best-in-class cell analysis platform as part of Epic’s novel DefineMBC liquid biopsy test.
DefineMBC includes both cell-based and cell-free analysis from a single blood draw to provide comprehensive MBC profiling when a tissue biopsy result is not available. The test’s multi-analyte methods have demonstrated impressive sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and precision in the:
detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs)
assessment of protein expression (HER2, ER)
determination of intra-cell copy number variation (CNV) of CTCs
plasma-based cell-free DNA analysis for identification of single nucleotide variants (SNVs), indels, fusions, CNVs, as well as
the calculation of microsatellite instability (MSI) and tumor mutational burden (TMB)
Fulgent Genetics offers over 19,000 unique genomic testing solutions and was one of the first clinical laboratories to offer CNV detection using NGS technology in the United States. Its clinical lab is CLIA-certified/CAP accredited, and all specimens are sequenced in its US-based laboratories in California and Texas.
“We are pleased to collaborate with the Epic team on this important test for metastatic breast cancer,” said Brandon Perthuis, Chief Commercial Officer of Fulgent Genetics. “Our highly scalable technology platform for Next Generation Sequencing makes Fulgent extremely well suited to power Epic’s clinical testing leveraging cfDNA, and for other high-volume blood-based offerings.”
“Our deep collaboration with Fulgent has enabled Epic to bring this novel test to market and improve care for metastatic breast cancer patients much sooner,” said Jason Christiansen, CTO of Epic Sciences. “As we realized the interest in our early-access program, and high level of anticipation for the clinical launch, it became clear that Fulgent’s capability of delivering high throughput testing with high quality and accuracy is essential for our launch.”