Illumina, Inc. and Labcorp announced an expanded collaboration to advance precision oncology through innovative applications of next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions across the healthcare ecosystem. Projects are expected to include promoting equitable access to cancer biomarker testing by bringing it closer to patients through new distributed test offerings; generating evidence to facilitate payer coverage; and developing new tests to address areas of unmet need. New test development is expected to span advanced oncology research and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS).
These solutions will aim to address areas of unmet needs in precision oncology and help bridge existing testing gaps. As part of the collaboration, the companies will explore co-commercializing Labcorp's FDA-authorized liquid biopsy assay PGDx elio plasma focus Dx alongside Illumina's FDA-approved TruSight Oncology Comprehensive for solid tumor profiling. Together, these distributed IVD test kits are intended to expand access to both tissue and liquid biopsy testing for hospitals and community health systems?bringing advanced biomarker testing closer to patients and helping to provide more specific diagnoses and identify eligibility for targeted treatments and clinical trials.
This distributed offering also aims to provide pharmaceutical companies with differentiated opportunities for companion diagnostic (CDx) development, supporting both tissue and liquid biopsy needs for targeted therapy approvals. Illumina and Labcorp will also continue joint efforts to demonstrate the clinical utility of CGP and promote its adoption. In a collaborative study published in Frontiers of Oncology, researchers evaluated more than 7,600 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor samples.
The study applied Illumina CGP to demonstrate its coverage and utility in detecting known and novel genomic features of NSCLC. Results showed that CGP detected variants with a current targeted therapy or clinical trial in more than 72% of patient tumors. This is one of eight joint publications in oncology between Illumina and Labcorp since 2022, along with 18 posters and presentations made at industry conferences.
