PlumCare Announced Partnership With Cordlife and Additional Funding to Scale Operations
New agreement with Cordlife expands testing and monitoring service to eight new countries in Asia as company helps families make better decisions for their long term health
ALAMEDA, Calif., Feb. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PlumCare, a DNA advisory service for families, today announced the company reached a partnership agreement with Cordlife Group Limited, a Singapore Exchange mainboard listed consumer healthcare company, as it expands access to the first-ever lifetime DNA testing and advisory service to help families take control of their health. To further support commercialization and access to its proprietary tests and services, PlumCare has secured an additional $750,000 in seed funding, with Steuart Ventures as the lead investor in this early stage financing round.
PlumCare introduces a new level of preventative health by combining whole exome sequencing and analysis with family medical history and expert curation of scientific breakthroughs to allow families to manage their well-being across generations--with a focus on children. The service requires participation from at least three family members in an effort to provide better counseling and insights for all.
The current PlumCare test and monitoring service reports on 325 genes, with plans to expand in the next six months. It provides insights for children about hearing, cardiac, connective tissue, metabolic, seizures, cancers and response to anesthesia. Adults receive reports focused on cardiac, connective tissue, cancer and response to medications and anesthesia.
"Genotyping provides only a limited view of the DNA and stops short of giving families actionable information about their health," said Petros Tsipouras, M.D., CEO and co-founder of PlumCare. "Through this funding cycle and partnership with Cordlife, we are excited for the potential our technology has to make a difference of lives in families all across Asia, just as we have done already in Europe, and we look forward to expanding access even further globally throughout 2018."
The agreement with Cordlife will enable consumers in eight new countries across Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, to use the PlumCare DNA Advisor Service™.
"We are excited to work with PlumCare to offer their highly reliable genetic testing services in Asia. Test findings can be used to determine patterns and identify potential health risks for everyone in the family. Such an approach can enable families to make more informed healthcare and lifestyle choices. At the same time, this diagnostic offering further bolsters Cordlife's income and cash flow potential. It accelerates our effort to continue to diversify our revenue streams by providing more new products and services to our large installed client base, as well as future clients," said Michael Weiss, Group CEO and Executive Director of Cordlife.
This partnership adds onto an existing relationship with PBKM FamiCord, the European leader in cord blood stem cell banking, which introduced PlumCare to Poland initially.
PlumCare was founded by Dr. Tsipouras and Paul R. Billings, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, FACMG, to help otherwise healthy families understand their potential risk for future disease and make better decisions for everyone based on their genetic profiles.
"The opportunity to provide high quality, evolving advice and support to families around the world with best in class testing, interactive databases and collaborations with world renown providers is PlumCare's mission which this agreement now brings to Asia," said Dr. Billings, Chairman and Co-Founder of PlumCare.
For more information and regional availability, please visit www.plumcarehealth.com
About PlumCare
PlumCare was created for families by two eminent clinical geneticists, Dr. Paul Billings and Dr. Petros Tsipouras. PlumCare DNA Advisor provides access to the progress in genetics through DNA testing, analysis, insights, and learnings from world-class research. The service combines the simplicity of saliva-based whole exome DNA testing, data from all participating family members (family trios or more), family medical history, external research and analysis. With a subscription, the service provides ongoing monitoring of scientific advances with annual reports and notifications. The insights, advice and access to local specialists help families to manage unexpected or chronic illnesses and their well-being across generations for a lifetime. Learn more at www.plumcarehealth.com.
About Cordlife Group Limited
(Bloomberg: CLGL; Reuters: CORD.SI)
Incorporated in May 2001, Cordlife Group Limited ("Cordlife", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") is a leading provider of cord blood, cord tissue and umbilical cord lining banking services in Asia.
As a consumer healthcare company catering to, among others, the mother and child segment, Cordlife has the largest market share among private cord blood banks in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Indonesia. It is among the Top 3 market leaders in India and Malaysia. Cordlife is also the first Singapore private cord blood bank in Myanmar and Vietnam.
Cordlife's cord blood processing and cryopreservation facility in Singapore is one of only six private cord blood banks in the world to be dually accredited by AABB and FactNetcord, two of the world's gold standards for cord blood banking. The Group's majority-owned Hong Kong Screening Centre Limited and Cordlife Sciences (India) Pvt Ltd have also received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists, which only recognises facilities that meet or exceed the highest standards in laboratory services. Cordlife has been listed on the mainboard of Singapore Exchange since March 2012. For more information, visit http://cordlife.listedcompany.com
SOURCE PlumCare
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