Apollo Hospital’s subsidiary, Sapien Biosciences to introduce Clinical Genomic testing!

Apollo Hospital’s subsidiary, Sapien Biosciences will introduce several genomic tests, over the next few months, as part of its personalized medicine initiative. Genomic testing involves analyses of the patient genomes and translating insights gained from these analyses to develop better healthcare interventions by the way of better prognostic tools for improved disease screening and prevention strategies, better diagnostic tests for optimization of clinical care and better theranostic tests for personalization of treatment.

The first of these tests is to be launched shortly; there shall be a clinical genomics panel for oncology that is designed to identify the mutations that drive cancer initiation and progression. Insights obtained from this test will enable prediction of the patient’s response to their medication allowing the physician to tailor the treatment to the patient’s genomic profile.

Further genetic tests planned for rollout include single gene panels for specific cancers (such as BRCA1/2), other disease specific genetic testing panels (such as diabetes, autism) pharmacogenetic panels (for assessment of response to specific drugs) and peri-natal diagnosis of genetic disorders.

Dr.Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We believe, that such genetic tests that are increasingly being adopted worldwide, will have a major impact on the delivery of quality clinical care and we are planning to integrate them into our clinical practice, in a manner consistent with global best practices”.

“Along with the cancer genomic panels, we will also be launching other panels that will enable differential diagnosis of certain heritable eye and cardiovascular diseases. Such panels will be especially helpful in identifying specific gene mutations in affected individuals. This information can in turn be used to screen unaffected members of their family for early detection and management,” he added.

“We shall also be introducing, genetic testing within the preventive healthcare context under careful physician supervision and with appropriate genetic counselling support. The advent of advanced genomic analytical techniques has enabled screening for genetic predisposition to various diseases. In this context, tests that identify an individual’s risk for diseases of high relevance in the Indian population could make a significant clinical impact.”