Thermo Fisher global visited Genetron Health to jointly develop gene sequencing platform applications

BEIJING, Sept. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 29, 2018, Mr. Joydeep Goswami, the President of Clinical NGS and Oncology Thermo Fisher Scientific (hereinafter referred to as Thermo Fisher), and Mr. Peter Vuong, the Director of Global Product Management, Clinical NGS division Thermo Fisher visited the Beijing headquarters of Genetron Health, conducted in-depth discussions on strategic cooperation in gene sequencing and reached consensuses with the management.

As a leading company in precision cancer medicine in China, Genetron Health has maintained close cooperation with Thermo Fisher, the world leader in serving science. Since the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement in April 2016, four high-level talks have been held, with the breadth and depth of cooperation constantly increasing.

Recently, Genetron Health has introduced Thermo Fisher Ion Genestudio™ S5 Plus platform, leading to a new breakthrough in its further expansion of gene sequencing capabilities. In addition, the company has also developed and registered supporting kits on the Ion Genestudio™ S5 Plus platform based on clinical needs, and a series of clinical diagnostics products for different cancer types will be launched in due course. Mr. Joydeep said that Thermo Fisher and Genetron Health have been working together for a long time, and that Genetron Health is very forward-looking in its investment in the gene sequencing platform. Sizhen Wang, CEO of Genetron Health, said that the introduction of the Ion Genestudio^TM S5 Plus platform will further deepen the cooperation between the two parties, the company will launch high-quality, high-coverage gene sequencing services and products based on the new platform and stay committed to providing cancer patients in China with better precision treatment options.

The Ion GeneStudio^TM S5 Plus is a high-throughput benchtop next-generation sequencing (NGS) systems launched by Thermo Fisher in 2018 that enables up to 600 bp read length and extremely high dynamic range for targeted sequencing as well as minigenome, exome and transcriptome sequencing. It has one of the shortest running times of all second-generation sequencers, which only takes two business days from sample to mutation detection results; and a simple targeted sequencing workflow that requires less than 45 minutes with the simplest sample-to-data NGS workflow. The sequencer features highly scalable throughput with 5 scalable chips for flexible sequencing, offering a wide range of throughput options from 2-130 million reads. Its comparatively lower sequencing deviation makes the coverage highly uniform and mutation detection more accurate. The introduction of the Ion GeneStudio^TM S5 Plus system improved the product line of Genetron Health, enabled more accurate test results, and coupled with the cutting-edging bioinformatics of Genetron Health provides more "implementable" solutions for medical institutions and patients.

Since its incorporation, Genetron Health has been committed to full-cycle cancer management, help medical experts and research institutes serve patients and users through the advances in its gene sequencing capabilities. At present, it has been in cooperation with many clinical hospitals and research institutes across the country for a comprehensive development plan covering both the upstream and downstream businesses. Genetron Health's long-term strategic cooperation with Thermo Fisher is a powerful one with a world leading technology company in the upstream sector.

Since its meeting with Thermo Fisher last November, Genetron Health has been actively promoting the implementation of the consensuses reached. The 3D Genetron biochip reader it developed based on Thermo Fisher's technical platform has been approved by China Chongqing Food and Drug Administration (Registration NO. 20172400136) to be launched and has been purchased and applied by many domestic hospitals and research institutes in major regions and cities of the country. At the same time, the multi-gene detection kit for lung cancer developed by Genetron Health and other kits for use with the reader are also filing for registration. The joint launch of the reader and kits could become the industry engine to lead the genetic testing industry to maturity.

In the genetic testing sector, where competition is becoming increasingly intense, rapid clinical transformation of research findings is critical to the future of a company. The long-term strategic cooperation between Genetron Health and Thermo Fisher includes their long-term investment in research and development. Experts from Thermo Fisher USA will work closely with those at Genetron Health to build a standardized platform and develop new detection products, especially for lung cancer, the most prevalent cancer type in China, enabling the rapid clinical transformation of research results. According to Mr. Joydeep, further cooperation between the parties will be carried out in the construction of research bases and talent development.

The market for precision cancer medicine has huge potential. In Genetron Health's long-term development plan, market layout is an important part. It has now established sales centers covering North China, South China, East China, Southwest China and other regions. Regarding its strategic cooperation with Thermo Fisher in the future, a consensus has been reached that they will continue to promote market expansion and sell to more medical and research institutions by making the most of their respective advantages.

This visiting accelerated Genetron Health's integration of upstream and downstream resources of precision cancer medicine, and made great progress in building a perfect closed-loop covering the entire precision tumor medical treatment system. The gene testing sector is developing rapidly and the in-depth integration of Thermo Fisher's powerful platform technology and Genetron Health's excellent research capability is actively promoting the combination of the industry, universities and research institutes, promoting the rapid clinical transformation of scientific research to make clinical diagnosis and treatment more precise.

SOURCE Genetron Health