SECAUCUS, N.J. and NEW YORK, May 25,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) and
Paige today announced a collaboration designed to unlock the
potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and speed the
diagnosis of cancer and other diseases that rely on pathologic
assessment.
The collaboration involves analysis using Paige's proprietary
machine learning expertise of pathology diagnostic data and
digitized slides from Quest Diagnostics and its AmeriPath and
Dermpath businesses to uncover markers of cancer and other
diseases. Using these insights, the parties intend to develop new
software products which, following regulatory approval, will be
marketed to pathologists, oncologists and other providers to
support disease diagnosis. Near term, the parties also intend to
license the insights to biopharmaceutical and research
organizations to aid biomarker discovery, drug research and
development and companion diagnostics.
The collaboration will initially focus on solid tumor cancers,
such as prostate, breast, colorectal and lung. The agreement
involves shared revenue for achieving certain product and
commercial milestones and, assuming regulatory approval,
arrangements for Quest to use approved software products in its
pathology operations as well as joint marketing and research. In
addition, Quest's pathologists will aid in defining pathology
workflows for using the products to support diagnostic
decision-making. Additional terms were not disclosed.
"As the leader in advanced diagnostics, we are excited to
actively participate in the creation and use of new technologies
that further the mission to make precision medicine
clinically accessible, actionable and economical. We are energized
about contributing our expertise to Paige's computational pathology
leadership to deliver insights from leading-edge technologies to
improve the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases," said
Kristie Dolan, General Manager,
Oncology Franchise, Quest Diagnostics.
The collaboration combines Quest's leadership in advanced
diagnostics, pathology subspecialty expertise and national scale
with Paige's leading AI-based software capabilities
and proprietary data from millions of digitized
pathology slides and associated therapy information. Quest and its
specialty pathology businesses bring subspecialty expertise based
largely from serving community cancer centers, which provide 80% of
cancer care nationally, complementing insights
from Paige's academic center expertise.
"We are excited to collaborate with Quest to create new software
products that can deliver faster, more accurate and more informed
clinical insights to patients than what is possible today," said
Leo Grady, Ph.D., Chief Executive
Officer of Paige. "Given Quest's vast footprint in the diagnostic
space this collaboration will enable us to ensure broad adoption of
the clinical products and biomarkers we're building."
Cancer diagnosis typically involves visual inspection of tumor
tissue on a glass slide by a pathologist using a microscope. In
contrast, AI-enabled computational pathology can identify known
patterns in tissue that characterize disease as well as identify
new markers, including those that are not necessarily detected by
the naked eye. Because AI systems improve with exposure to new
data, the data from Quest's deep subspecialized expertise is
poised to enhance Paige's efforts to discern
new insights that may improve cancer diagnosis and
patient care.
Digital Pathology Use
The collaboration also aligns with Quest's goal to
expand its digital pathology network for its pathologists
across the United States. The company employs widely used and
cost-efficient digital technologies from different manufacturers to
enable pathologists to capture and share digital images of
slides with other experts to confer on findings, improving
diagnosis. Paige's software platform is interoperable across
several digital systems and is designed to deploy AI-based
diagnostic products into pathology workflows.
Digital pathology
technologies enable pathologists to capture and share
digital images of slides with experts in other locations –
including in the United States and
globally – to confer on findings and thereby improve diagnosis.
Quest Diagnostics is a world leader in advanced diagnostic
services, including in oncology. With its AmeriPath and
Dermpath specialty pathology businesses and 600 MDs and PhDs,
Quest Diagnostics provides highly advanced pathology services for
health systems and other providers in the
United States and overseas.
About Paige
Paige was founded in 2017 by Thomas Fuchs, Dr.Sc. and colleagues from
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The company builds
computational pathology products designed so patients and their
care teams can make effective, more informed treatment decisions.
With this new class of AI-based technologies positioned to drive
the future of diagnostics, Paige created a platform to deliver this
novel technology to pathologists to transform their workflow and
increase diagnostic confidence and productivity. Paige's products
deliver insights to pathologist and oncologist so they can arrive
efficiently at more precise diagnosis for patients. Having recently
closed a successful Series C financing round led by Casdin Capital,
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. and KKR, Paige is
able to expand its footprint and become the global leader in
AI-based diagnostic software for use in pathology. Paige is the
first company to receive FDA breakthrough designation for
computational pathology products.
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics empowers
people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived
from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our
diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat
disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care
management. Quest annually serves one in three adult
Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our nearly 50,000
employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right
context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform
lives. www.QuestDiagnostics.com.
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