Launches first Global Alliance for Genomics and Health Beacon by a commercial laboratory
Presenting at Pistoia Alliance Spring Conference 2015 being held in Zurich, Switzerland
ELMWOOD PARK, N.J., April 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BioReference Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq:BRLI) announced today that it has joined two leading organizations that are focused on accelerating pharmaceutical RD and medical innovation through collaboration, data sharing and best practices – the Pistoia Alliance, as a Participating Member, and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) as an Organizational Member.
The Pistoia Alliance is a global, not-for-profit alliance of more than 80 life science companies, vendors, publishers, academic groups, and individuals that work together to lower barriers to innovation in RD. The projects that the Pistoia Alliance works on helps transform RD innovation through pre-competitive collaboration and brings together the key constituents to identify the root causes that lead to RD inefficiencies. The organization develops best practices and technology pilots to overcome common obstacles and the members collaborate as equals on open projects that generate significant value for the worldwide life sciences community. Joe Donahue, Senior Vice President, BioReference Laboratories will be presenting at the Pistoia Alliance Spring Conference 2015 being held in Zurich, Switzerland on April 14, 2015. More information on the Pistoia Alliance can be found at http://www.pistoiaalliance.org.
GA4GH was formed to help accelerate the potential of genomic medicine to advance human health. It brings together over 285 leading organizations in 30 countries, including some of the world’s leading healthcare providers, research funders, research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, disease advocacy organizations, and life science and information technology companies. GA4GH Members are working together to create a common framework of harmonized approaches to enable the responsible, voluntary, and secure sharing of genomic and clinical data. More information on GA4GH is at http://www.genomicsandhealth.org.
In addition, BioReference has become the first commercial laboratory to make a Beacon available to the worldwide medical research community. The Beacon project is an initiative of the Data Working Group of GA4GH, and the objective of the project is to test the willingness of international sites to share basic genetic data. This open web service is designed both to be technically simple and to not return information that could be construed as violating anyone’s privacy. Initially, BioReference will make available all gene variants uncovered through whole exome analysis performed by its GeneDx subsidiary, the world leader in rare disease testing. Additional information on the Beacon project can be found at http://ga4gh.org/#/beacon and the BioReference Beacon can be found at http://beacon.bioreference.com/.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and Pistoia,” said Marc Grodman, MD, CEO BioReference Laboratories. “The data and insights we have been collecting for more than the last 30 years are invaluable for drug discovery and we look forward to working with our partners in industry, disease foundations, and academia to develop innovative solutions that help accelerate medical research and improve patient outcomes and care.”
“It is exciting to have a commercial laboratory light up a Beacon so quickly after joining the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. They are the 14th organisation to join the Beacon network that in total includes over 120 sets of genomic data,” said Peter Goodhand, GA4GH Executive Director. ”We welcome BioReference Laboratories as a GA4GH Member and look forward to their contributions on the Beacon project and other important efforts to advance the responsible sharing of genomic and health related data.”
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