Labcorp expands NGS tie‑up
Labcorp and Illumina broadened their next‑generation sequencing collaboration in precision oncology, signalling continued vertical partnerships among major diagnostics companies. The announcement underlines ongoing investment in sequencing infrastructure and platform-level testing relationships. (insidermonkey.com)
Illumina and Labcorp said on March 18 they are expanding their cancer-testing partnership to build and sell more next-generation sequencing tools. (investor.illumina.com) Next-generation sequencing reads large stretches of a tumor’s genetic code at once, instead of checking one mutation at a time. Illumina and Labcorp said the expanded deal will use that approach in precision oncology, where doctors match treatments to a patient’s specific cancer markers. (investor.illumina.com) The companies said the work will include new in vitro diagnostic tests for whole-genome sequencing and comprehensive genomic profiling, plus co-commercialized liquid biopsy assays. Liquid biopsy tests look for tumor DNA in blood, while comprehensive genomic profiling scans many cancer-related genes in one run. (prnewswire.com) They also said they plan distributed offerings that would let more laboratories run testing on Illumina platforms, while Labcorp continues to provide testing services through its own network. The announcement described the effort as spanning the healthcare ecosystem rather than a single lab contract. (investor.illumina.com) The tie-up lands as cancer diagnostics companies push to move sequencing from specialist centers into broader clinical use. Labcorp had already expanded its precision oncology portfolio in April 2024, saying it wanted to support drug developers and patient care with a wider set of genomic services. (labcorp.com) Illumina, for its part, has been leaning on partnerships to widen demand for its sequencing machines and tests. Its press release said the Labcorp expansion is aimed at improving access to genomic profiling for therapy selection and clinical trial enrollment. (investor.illumina.com) Labcorp’s own March 19 newsroom item pointed readers to a GenomeWeb report on the deal and said the collaboration adds new distributed offerings and co-commercialized genomic test solutions. That wording suggests the companies are not just buying equipment from each other but aligning on how tests are developed and sold. (labcorp.com) Neither company disclosed financial terms in the March 18 announcement. What they did spell out was the direction: more sequencing-based cancer tests, more shared commercialization, and a wider push to get those tests in front of clinicians. (investor.illumina.com)
