Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Asia Precision Medicine Research Array for Regional Screening Initiatives

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Epidemiologists conducting national precision medicine initiatives focused on gathering clinical research data on genetic variation among East and South Asian populations now have access to Thermo Fisher Scientific's Applied Biosystems Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array. This new genotyping tool contains more than 750,000 biomarkers associated with both common and rare diseases for clinical research studies.

Complexity of analysis and costs associated with whole genome sequencing continue to challenge genomic centers involved in genotyping samples for epidemiology studies. Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array helps overcome this barrier by delivering answers in a timely manner and within budget. The array is available at a low cost per sample with no minimum sample commitment.

Markers on the array were selected for highest genomic coverage, and more than 100,000 gene variants were carefully chosen for having pathogenic effect specifically in East Asian and South Asian populations from broadly referenced public databases, including: ClinVar, NHGRI-GWAS catalog, CPIC, PharmaGKB and PharmaADME. Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Array offers the capability to collect data on lung cancer, diabetes, heart disease, genetic risk profiling, immune response, and pharmacogenomics research. The array also offers the flexibility to add 50,000 custom markers.

Asian countries have made advances in establishing country-specific national initiatives to study common and rare inherited diseases and identify the underlying genetic risk factors in local ethnic populations. Several of these programs, including those in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, are now powered by Axiom custom arrays tailored with the goal of combining genomic and clinical research data with phenotypic information to understand the genetics of common diseases and to determine how drugs affect people.

"Thermo Fisher Scientific has forged partnerships with several large biobank initiatives in Asia, helping advance research in precision medicine in these countries," said Dr. Laurent Bellon, vice president and general manager of Microarrays at Thermo Fisher.  "Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array now offers the research community in all of Asia the ability to drive scientific insights into a variety of rare and common diseases in the local populations by leveraging our deep technical expertise, bioinformatics solutions and portfolio of products - from sample management, to data analysis software."

Powered by the Axiom Genotyping Solution, the results from Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array are fully compatible with existing genomic cohort data.  Axiom Genotyping Solution includes both pre-designed and custom arrays. Many of the world's largest population genetic epidemiology projects have chosen Axiom biobank array for their genotyping studies. In Asia, Axiom Biobank Array is now used by the Korean NIH Biobank, Tohoku Medical Mega Biobank in Japan and China Kadoorie Biobank for performing large scale epidemiology studies.  

To have one of our Axiom biobank specialists provide more information about Axiom Asia Precision Medicine Research Array, visit http://www.thermofisher.com/axiombiobank.html.  
For research use only.  Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $18 billion and more than 55,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands – Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services – we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:
Mauricio Minotta                                                                                               
Thermo Fisher Scientific                                                                       
+1 760 929 2456                                                                                   
[email protected]

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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