Quest Collaborates With Universal DX For Advanced Blood Test Screening For Colorectal Cancer

(RTTNews) - Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) on Monday entered into a strategic collaboration with Universal DX that aims to revolutionize the way colorectal cancer screening is performed in the United States.

Under the commercial agreement, Quest will provide clinical laboratory services to patients and providers in the US based on UDX's Signal-C, an advanced blood test for colorectal cancer screening.

Provided that the test receives premarket approval in the US, Quest will also collaborate with UDX to develop clinical evidence for the test by enrolling 15,000 patients in a study involving more than 100 investigator sites. Once the FDA approves the test, Quest will have exclusive rights to provide clinical laboratory services in the US.

The collaboration aims to merge UDX's innovative liquid biopsy screening technology with Quest's national scale and expertise in the US, which includes broad electronic health record connectivity, health plan relationships, and approximately 2,100 patient service centers for blood draws.

Kristie Dolan, Vice President and General Manager of Oncology at Quest Diagnostics, expressed her excitement about the partnership and said, "UDX has developed a promising method of screening for colorectal cancer with a simple blood test that includes the ability to detect advanced adenomas. We look forward to working with UDX to make this innovation accessible to a large population of people in the US who are eligible for colorectal cancer screening but currently fail to be screened due to the inconvenience of conventional methods."