CorTechs Labs and Human Longevity Inc. to Collaborate on Comprehensive Diagnostics by Combining Deep Sequencing with Quantitative Imaging

SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CorTechs Labs, the leading provider of quantitative medical imaging solutions and Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), a genomics and cell therapy-based diagnostic and therapeutic company focused on extending the healthy, high performance human life span, have signed a collaborative agreement to use CorTech's advanced imaging data in the comprehensive genomic and phenotype database HLI is building. HLI's database is a key component in their goal to better understand and intervene in diseases associated with human biological decline. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

CorTechs Labs will provide quantitative evaluations of specially acquired magnetic resonance imaging data that will be integrated with other health metrics and analysis conducted by HLI. These include: genome and microbiome sequencing, along with metabolomics and proteomics to provide the most complete description of health ever assembled. CorTechs Labs produces FDA-cleared products for measuring brain atrophy in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy, and has installations at over 150 clinical radiology sites worldwide.

"HLI's goal is to revolutionize healthcare using the most advanced tools available for predicting, preventing, and treating disease, and imaging is a critical component for this," said Dr. Venter, Co-founder and CEO of HLI. He added, "The image analysis tools CorTechs has developed and brought to market are ideal to translate imaging data into quantifiable phenotypes that can scale to a project of this size."

Guri Stark, CorTechs Labs' CEO commented, "We are pleased to partner with HLI to transform the way medicine is practiced. This collaboration brings together HLI's tremendous experience in genomics and bioinformatics, and combines it with CorTechs Labs' ability to accurately and automatically measure a variety of vital phenotypes."

James Brewer, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Radiology and Neurosciences at UC San Diego, who is a medical advisor for CorTechs Labs and a member of HLI's Scientific Advisory Board, sees the field of radiology moving generally toward more quantitative and objective measures that can synergize with genetics and foster discoveries using big data. "Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging can be applied to multiple organs, since there is no radiation exposure, and can also be applied in screening strategies for catching and preventing disease at its earliest stages," he noted. "It shows tremendous promise in cancer screening, determining cardiovascular risk, and assessing other diseases of aging, and can even be applied for earlier diagnosis of pediatric illnesses."

About CorTechs Labs

CorTechs Labs develops and markets cutting-edge brain imaging solutions used by neurologists and radiologists in hundreds of clinics and research centers around the world.  CorTechs' flagship product, NeuroQuant^®, is a breakthrough, 510(k) cleared software medical device that makes quantitative analysis of MRI images of the human brain a routine part of clinical practice.  As the only FDA cleared medical device capable of automatically detecting and quantifying atrophy in the human brain, NeuroQuant^® brings sophisticated, accurate, and fully automated MRI post-processing capabilities to the physician's desktop or mobile device. This provides neurologists, radiologists, and clinical researchers with a convenient and cost-effective means to quantify atrophy of brain structures to help diagnose a variety of brain disorders, including conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, MS and traumatic brain injury.

About Human Longevity Inc. (HLI)

HLI, a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, CA was founded in 2013 by pioneers in the fields of genomics and stem cell therapy. Using advances in genomic sequencing, the human microbiome, proteomics, informatics, computing, and cell therapy technologies, HLI is building the world's most comprehensive database of human genotypes and phenotypes as a basis for a variety of commercialization opportunities to help solve aging related disease and human biological decline. HLI will be licensing access to its database, and developing new diagnostics and therapeutics as part of their product offerings. For more information please visit, www.humanlongevity.com

SOURCE CorTechs Labs