- Sophia Genetics announces new collaboration with Paoli-Calmettes Institute, one of the most important French Comprehensive Cancer Centres (FCC)
- Diagnosis turnaround time for breast and ovarian cancer will be drastically reduced
- Paoli-Calmettes Institute is the first FCC to apply for Next Generation Sequencing COFRAC accreditation in France
- Jurgi Camblong invited as keynote speaker at 1stCongress of French Society for Predictive and Personalized Medicin
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, 11 June 2015 – Sophia Genetics, the European leader in Data Driven Medicine, has today announced a new partnership with the Paoli-Calmettes Institute in Marseille. The company will provide the centre, one of the most important in France, with access to its leading genetic analysis services.
With this new collaboration the cancer center turnaround time for patients to obtain a diagnosis for breast or ovarian cancer following genetic testing will be substantially reduced.
The Institute is a not for profit private organization, part of UNICANCER, a French network of 20 FCC’s dedicated to fighting cancer. The partnership with Sophia Genetics focuses initially on breast and ovarian cancers and the analysis of BRCA 1 and 2 gene mutations. Such mutations and the potential risk that they highlight of susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer hit the news in March this year, when actress Angelina Jolie disclosed her decision to go through a second round of preventive surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes following BRCA genetic tests.
Jurgi Camblong, CEO and co-founder of Sophia Genetics, explained: “Last year, over 3000 women were tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations using the Sophia Genetics platform in France and Switzerland; they will be 10,000 this year. Sophia’s technology helps patients to benefit from precision medicine in order to prevent and treat diseases thanks to reliable as well as cost and time effective NGS based genetics tests”.
The initial collaboration regarding BRCA testing is likely to increase the number of genetic tests being performed at the Paoli-Calmettes Institute. Other UNICANCER hospitals may also utilise the technology in due course. The Institute will benefit from Sophia’s ability to have a lab up and running, providing cutting edge genetic analysis in less than a week, instead of months.
Thanks to Sophia Genetics’ sophisticated machine learning and algorithms, the Institute has applied for ISO 15189 accreditation for its Next Generation Sequencing laboratory from the French Accreditation Committee (COFRAC). Sophia’s platform is already ISO certified and standardized and with such cutting-edge technology, the Institute could be the first COFRAC Next Generation Sequencing lab to be certified in France.
Reflecting Sophia Genetics’ leadership position in France, Jurgi Camblong has been invited as a keynote speaker at the 1st Congress of the French Society for Predictive and Personalized Medicine, being held 12th – 13th June in Montpellier, France. The congress will mark the foundation of the Society under the Presidency of Pascal Pujol, Professor of Medicine, Head of Department Oncogenetics at Montpellier University Hospital. Jurgi Camblong will present Sophia’s contribution to delivering personalised medicine in France and around Europe thanks to genetic testing and better diagnosis of serious conditions.
