AB133. SmartLabs—a solution to healthcare

Abstract: DNA sequencing is the most commonly used approach for mutation scanning and is widely regarded as the gold standard in diagnostics of rare diseases. Genetic and genomic tests significantly impact clinical care through better disease prevention, faster and more accurate diagnosis, and informed treatment selection. Multi-gene panel tests, for example, enable physicians to identify all disease-associated genetic mutations and drug responses, facilitating faster diagnosis and treatment. Next generation sequencing (NGS), also described as “second generation”, has replaced Sanger sequencing as the primary methodology employed by researchers to identify novel disease genes. The ability to simultaneously analyse multiple or very large genes at a cheaper cost per base makes next generation sequencing an attractive solution for clinical diagnostic testing to identify the disease-causing variation (or variations) in patients with genetically heterogeneous disorders. While the market for high impact genetic and genomic testing is poised for rapid growth, most hospitals and health systems outsource these tests to third party reference laboratories, due to lack of technology and expertise for analytics. The ability to offer high impact, cost effective genetic testing, and data analysis services will be a key differentiating factor for hospital systems. A SmartLab is a clinical NGS diagnostics laboratory customized to meet the customer’s existing capabilities and needs in terms of infrastructure, equipment, disease-specific gene panels, data analysis solutions, personnel, training, clinical laboratory accreditations and regulatory approvals. SmartLab enhances the brand value of partner organizations, helps them differentiate themselves from their regional competitors, empowers their participation in personalized medicine clinical research programs or new clinical trials. A SmartLab is a complete laboratory and informatics solution to enable patient-centered genomic medicine from sample to reports. It provides healthcare organizations with the necessary capabilities to offer their patients in-house, NGS-based genetic and genomic tests in various disease areas. SmartLab enabled health organizations can leverage clinical and patient genomic data to improve patient care and health outcomes. Strand SmartLab is a turnkey solution that combines the clinical NGS laboratory blueprint (i.e., design) and Strand’s enterprise bioinformatics solutions to equip and enable customers with the necessary infrastructure, capabilities, personnel, regulatory approvals and training to offer clinical NGS testing services to patients.

Keywords: SmartLab; next generation sequencing (NGS); genomics solutions