News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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To Help Physicians and Patients, Medical Laboratories with BRCA Breast Cancer Tests Are Posting Mutation Data into ClinVar’s BRCA Database

Innovative use of crowdsourcing allows pathologists and genetic scientists to create a sizeable database of BRCA mutations that is accessible to clinicians and patients

There’s a new development in the longstanding battle over proprietary healthcare data versus public sharing of such information. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will be interested to learn that, when it comes to genetic testing of the BRCA mutation involved in breast cancer, a public data base of mutations is growing so rapidly that it may become the world’s largest repository of such information.

It was last year when the Supreme Court ruled in the gene patent case of Association of Molecular Pathology versus Myriad Genetics that human genes were not patentable. Following that decision, some financial analysts stated that Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) retained a competitive advantage over other medical laboratories due to its huge database of mutations in the BRCA genes. (See Dark Daily, “Supreme Court Strikes down Myriad Gene Patents in Unanimous Vote; Decision Is Expected to Benefit Clinical Pathology Laboratories,”  July 1, 2013.) (more…)

Supreme Court Strikes down Myriad Gene Patents in Unanimous Vote; Decision Is Expected to Benefit Clinical Pathology Laboratories

Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers can expect to see an expansion of genetic testing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Myriad case

Pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals got a major victory on June 13. That’s when the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled 9-0 to end the 30-year-old practice of awarding patents on human genes. The unanimous decision invalidates certain hotly contested patents held by Myriad Genetics, Inc., (NASDAQ: MYGN) on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Moreover, this Supreme Court decision also opens the doors to other medical laboratories  to develop their own diagnostics around the BRCA genes and compete for breast-cancer testing market share. (more…)

Consumers Now Use Medical Cost Websites to Price Shop for Clinical Pathology Laboratory Tests and Other Medical Procedures

Price transparency expected to encourage competition among healthcare providers, including medical laboratories

Before consumers visit a clinical laboratory, they can now check the “fair” price of medical laboratory tests. New websites have sprung up that make it easy for consumers to find what experts consider to be fair market prices for each type of lab test, as well as for other medical procedures and healthcare services.

Pathologists should think of the well-known “Kelly Blue Book” that has been the price authority for prices of new and used automobiles for decades. These new medical price websites are easy to use and make it quick for a consumer to find “fair” prices for common clinical laboratory test and medical procedure.

These new web-based companies are organized to serve the needs of consumers who are enrolled in high-deductible health plans (HDHP). For an individual, an annual deductible can be as high as $2,500—and as much as $5,000 for a family. Thus, clinical laboratory managers should not be surprised that consumers are actively price-shopping before they visit their laboratory to have a specimen collected.
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GE Healthcare Pays $587 Million to Purchase Clarient, the Specialty Pathology and Cancer Testing Firm

GE’s Acquisition Considered A Sign Of More Deals To Come In The Clinical Laboratory Industry

Here’s more confirmation that anatomic pathology continues to be a big target on the radar screen of big healthcare corporations and Wall Street investors. Today, GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), disclosed it will pay $587 million to acquire Clarient, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRT), the medical testing laboratory.

For pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, this is further confirmation that GE—one of the world’s major players in molecular imagin and radiology—intends to combine molecular diagnostic technologies used in anatomic pathology with its molecular imaging technologies used in radiology. In the press release about the acquisition, GE wrote that the addition of Clairent would help it create “new integrated tools for the diagnosis and characterization of cancer.”

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Consolidation of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Testing Happening in India

Super Religare Laboratories Acquires Piramal Diagnostic Services in $129 million deal


Pathology and clinical laboratory testing in India is poised to undergo ongoing consolidation as the pace of merger & acquisition activity increases. One sign of this trend is last month’s acquisition of the pathology business of Piramal Healthcare Limited by Super Religare Laboratories Limited (SRL).

In a deal valued at US$129 million, Super Religare Laboratories purchased Piramal’s pathology and radiology diagnostic services subsidiary, called Piramal Diagnostic Services Private Limited. Announced on July 14, 2010, Super Religare Laboratories said this acquisition will give it one of India’s largest pathology and clinical laboratory testing networks.

After combining the two businesses, Super Religare will operate 185 laboratories. It will have 1,500 patient collection centers that serve 12 million patients per year. Further acquisitions are planned by SRL.

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