New Delhi, India, 13 November 2018: CORE Diagnostics, a next-generation startup and go-to-experts for high-end clinical diagnostics, has joined forces with Guardant Health AMEA, a leading precision oncology company to bring their comprehensive liquid biopsy, Guardant360^® to India.

Guardant360^® detects cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood specimens of advanced solid-tumor cancer patients and evaluates 73 genes. It tests four major classes of alterations relevant for treatment selection: point mutations, indels (insertions/deletions), copy number amplifications, and fusions/rearrangements.

Guardant Health’s proprietary Digital Sequencing method optimizes next generation sequencing (NGS) for accurate tumor variant detection at the low allele fractions present in cell-free DNA. High-efficiency capture enables single molecule detection, optimizing sensitivity, while unique digital barcoding and custom bioinformatics analysis optimizes specificity.

Since its launch in 2014, Guardant360^® has become the world’s market-leading comprehensive liquid biopsy test and has been used by more than 5,000 oncologists globally, over 70,000 patients and upwards of 50 biopharmaceutical companies. It is the most widely published test with over 80 peer-reviewed publications, more than 20 clinical outcomes studies and boasts a shortturn-around time of 7 days from the date of specimen receipt.

On the announcement of the partnership, the Founder and CEO of CORE Diagnostics, ZoyaBrar, said, “We are excited to partner with Guardant HealthAMEA to bring their innovative test to India. Both the companies share a common vision to transform cancer care in India through innovation. With this partnership, we will be empowering the healthcare ecosystem with advanced diagnostic capabilities and bring hope for cancer patients in their advanced stages with just a simple blood test. The concept of liquid biopsies is relatively new and serves as an alternative option for patients who are unable to undergo invasive tumor tissue biopsies. We are thrilled to launch Guardant360^®in the market soon and hope to enable more oncologists to tailor cancer treatment for advanced stage cancer patients.”

“Guardant360^® can help avoid costs, complications and delays of invasive biopsies through a simple blood draw. This test is meant for advanced cancers and is changing the way cancer is tracked and treated. We are thrilled to be able to offer this solution to the Indian market and ensure that hurdle of repeated tissue biopsies does not keep the physicians from having the most up-to-date information when making treatment decisions. For patients with advanced solid tumor cancers it means the ability to gather precise genomic picture of the tumor from both your primary tumor as well as metastatic sites without the risks of a tissue biopsy. Through our partnership with CORE Diagnostics we hope to transform the way cancer is treated in India by enabling physicians to offer new treatment options with our breakthrough blood test,” Divya Mehta,Head of Corporate Development, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Guardant Health AMEA.