Quest Diagnostics and Scipher Medicine announced a multi-pronged collaboration designed to expand patient access to diagnostic services advancing precision medicine for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Under a multi-year collaboration, Quest will provide advanced RNA extraction and next-generation sequencing services for Scipher’s PrismRA test. The test is a blood-based molecular signature response classifier (MSRC) aimed at predicting a patient’s response to TNF inhibitor (TNFi) therapy, a commonly prescribed treatment for patients with RA. In addition, Quest will enable specimen collection at approximately 7,300 patient access points, including phlebotomists in physician offices and over 2,100 patient service center locations, as well as courier logistics services that include transport of patient specimens between the Quest and Scipher laboratories and provider sites.
The collaboration centers on Quest’s next-generation sequencing capabilities at its laboratory in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Quest will extract and sequence RNA from PrismRA blood specimens to identify approximately two dozen molecular traits associated with response to TNFi therapies. RNA transcripts in the blood can be incorporated into Scipher’s molecular classifier analysis which is predictive of the biology that underpins drug response. Scipher will also incorporate this molecular data with patient data and results of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), an RA antibody marker, from testing at its North Carolina laboratory. Through their electronic health record, physicians receive a personalized report with a score indicating predicted response based on analysis of the complete set of laboratory and patient data.
