Strand Life Sciences' 20 Employee U.S. Ops in Colorado Emerges From Stealth Mode

Strand Life Sciences' 20 Employee U.S. Ops in Colorado Emerges From Stealth Mode
April 16, 2015
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Strand Life Sciences, the global genomic profiling company, announced on April 16 that it has opened a new U.S. operations center in Aurora, Colo. The site will accommodate 20 employees and focus on the development of StrandAdvantage, a test that analyzes genomic changes in solid tumors, according to the Denver Post.

As of April 16, the company did not have any new career opportunities in the Colorado area listed on its site. Strand Life Sciences declined to comment on this recent news.

The opening of the new facility is meant to support the StrandAdvantage, which is now available to physicians. StrandAdvantage has the potential to accelerate the analysis of cancer genes and match them to FDA-approved cancer therapies and open clinical trials.

The operating site will include a CLIA laboratory at the Bioscience Park Center. The laboratory itself will be equipped with next generation sequencing technology. Customer service professionals will also work at the location to facilitate clinical consultations between staff physicians and oncologists.

Dan Theodorescu, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, had a positive outlook on Strand’s work. He told the Post that advancements in next-generation sequencing have created an ample amount of data for oncologists.

Strand Life Sciences recently made headlines on April 15 when it announced that it had appointed Scott Storrer to the position of global president. Storrer has been a key part of bringing StrandAdvantage to the U.S. market.

The Progress of Genetic Testing
As Strand Life Sciences expands its work on StrandAdvantage, other companies in the genetic testing realm are making significant advances as well. Genomic Health, Inc. , a California-based genetic testing company that focuses on oncology, announced on March 20 that its breast cancer test had shown positive results.

The company released data from 11 studies at the St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference. The information showed that its Oncotype DX test for early-stage breast cancer led to a 58 percent net reduction in chemotherapy use.

"This is encouraging as decisions based on an individual patient's needs will help to ensure better patient outcomes,” said Denis Horgan, executive director of the European Alliance for Personalized Medicine, at the time of the announcement.

Genetic testing can help identify chromosomes, genes and proteins, which is essential for ruling out a suspected genetic condition or the potential for one. Biochemical genetic tests, chromosomal genetic tests and molecular genetic tests can all be used for research, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).



BioSpace Temperature Poll
After last week's news that Gilead had issued a health advisory to doctors, concern is growing after nine patients taking Harvoni or Sovaldi along with another drug, amiodarone, were treated for abnormally slow heartbeats. One of the patients died of cardiac arrest. Three of the nine patients required a pacemaker. That has BioSpace asking, what next?

Back to news