Molecular Health GmbH and FALCO HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. Team Up to Provide Genetic Analysis Services Using MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel
March 02, 2021 at 02:00 am EST
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Molecular Health GmbH announced that it has entered into an agreement with FALCO biosystems Ltd. under which FALCO biosystems will use the products MH Guide/BRCA and MH Guide/Mendel to evaluate inherited genetic variants of BRCA1/2 and other heritable cancer-associated genes. Inherited genetic variants can predispose an individual to cancer. Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Syndrome, for example, is caused by pathogenic mutations in distinct genes such as BRCA1/2, MLH1, MSH6, PMS2, respectively. Therefore, testing BRCA1/2 genes and other heritable cancer-associated genes is becoming increasingly important: both to evaluate the affected patient's individual risk of developing cancer[1],[2], and as a predictive biomarker and companion diagnostic test for certain drugs[3]. Whereas MH Guide/BRCA detects variants in HBOC-associated genes, MH Guide/Mendel can analyze large gene panels as well as whole-exome or whole-genome data, so that many different hereditary diseases can be identified at once. Under the terms of this collaboration, FALCO biosystems will perform the next-generation sequencing (NGS) process and variant identification using blood samples provided by the patient. Molecular Health will then analyze the variant data using MH Guide/BRCA or MH Guide/Mendel. To accurately distinguish benign from pathogenic variants, MH uses an in-house proprietary database called MH Dataome, which integrates the Japanese reference genome ToMMo 3.5KJPNv2 (MAF >= 1%) for improved variant filtering and classification. Molecular Health gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Tohoku Medical Megabank.
FALCO HOLDINGS Co.,Ltd is a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the clinical testing business and the dispensing pharmacy business. The Company operates in two business segments. The Clinical Testing segment is engaged in the contracted clinical specimen testing business for hospitals and clinics, as well as the development and sale of electronic medical charts and other medical information systems, and the wholesale of in-vitro diagnostic drugs. The Dispensing Pharmacy segment is engaged in the operation of dispensing pharmacies.