CGI, BARC Partner

Cancer Genetics, Inc has announced that it has entered into a partnership with the Bio Analytical Research Corporation (BARC), a global central laboratory supporting clinical trials and serving large pharmaceutical and biotech companies globally, including in Europe, Africa, China, Australia and the USA. BARC has a global network of 7 clinical labs supporting the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the development and approval of new drugs by managing the laboratory component of Phase I thru IV clinical trials, with 60% of these trials in oncology. BARC’s worldwide network includes The Americas, Europe, South Africa, and Asia Pacific.

BARC is part of Cerba HealthCare, a European medical leader with an international multidisciplinary network of 350 clinical labs, 4,200 staff members, and has been in business for over 25 years. BARC and CGI are expected to jointly market, sell and deliver on contracts that service a market that is increasingly global, and in demand for more validated biomarker and companion strategies that support oncology trials. The partnership will have an immediate focus on immuno-oncology, hematological cancers and lung cancer and will plan on developing market specific offerings that are collaboratively sold and serviced.

“We are very excited about this partnership, as this will help our customers on a global basis to accelerate their drug development and incorporate the additional biomarker and genomic data needed to improve decision making. CGI will enable BARC to offer world class genomics expertise to make early decisions in the complex field of oncology, especially in the very competitive environment of immuno-oncology,” said Michel Abiteboul, CEO of BARC. “We strongly believe that our combined efforts will support the precision medicine approach of pharmaceutical companies globally for the benefit of patients and their families.”

“With BARC and CGI focused on the same goal of providing patients, physicians and pharmaceutical companies with the best healthcare service, this partnership will meet the most demanding standards in personalized medicine worldwide. It will satisfy the enormous need among biotech and pharmaceutical companies for more efficient and comprehensive testing solutions by integrating CGI’s specialized, genomic testing with BARC’s laboratory solutions and global network. Providing better and more integrated access to both US and European markets is a critical need in oncology trials that are becoming more global and increasing in cost and complexity,” said Panna Sharma, CEO of Cancer Genetics.

With later stage clinical research and trials shifting overseas, the partnership will provide clients access to combined expertise on a global basis – ranging from complex, oncology-focused genomic testing to core central laboratory analysis, project and data management and sample logistics. It will address the increased pressure regarding turn-around time (TAT) due to increasingly globalized studies. The combined expertise in biomarker discovery and companion diagnostics development will become critical for offering the development and validation of oncology biomarkers and for implementing technology transfers that support the precision oncology efforts of with global customers.

Based on recent industry reports by PhRMA, an industry organization representing the country’s leading biopharmaceutical research companies, per-patient clinical trial costs are estimated to have averaged $36,500 during Phase III trials, with oncology trials showing the highest average per-patient cost of $59,500 during Phase III. The CGI and BARC combination is expected to help lower clinical trial costs and complexity by facilitating access to international markets, implementing harmonized protocols and data integration standards across lab and trials and reducing the complexities of workflow across sites, sample management and storage and logistics.

Oncology testing services are central to CGI’s business model and are also a core focus area for BARC. Together, the two companies will leverage their respective expertise to provide key insights to the oncology drug development and clinical trial process, one that is expected to reach over $5.4 billion in spending on oncology trials that need biomarker and genomic testing support.