IL28B Diagnostic Test Now Widely Available
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Quest Diagnostics Launches Hepatitis C Virus Therapy Test Based on IL28B Gene Variants
AccuType® IL28B test now available to physicians and for clinical trials research
MADISON, N.J., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced the availability of its AccuType® IL28B test for aiding in the prediction of patient response to peginterferon alpha-based therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Quest Diagnostics is now offering the test to physicians and other healthcare providers in the U.S. and to pharmaceutical companies for use in clinical trials research.
The test was developed through a global non-exclusive license agreement under which Schering Corporation, a Merck affiliate, licensed certain patent rights claiming Interleukin (IL) 28B genetic markers to Quest Diagnostics. These genetic markers have been shown to provide an indicator of potential response to peginterferon alpha-based therapy for HCV. Additional terms were not disclosed.
“Our AccuType IL28B test will give physicians greater insights for treating individual patients infected with the most common form of HCV using standard antiviral therapies,” said Rick L. Pesano, M.D., Ph.D., medical director, infectious diseases, Quest Diagnostics. “AccuType IL28B testing will also help physicians consider alternative therapies, which in the future may include HCV protease inhibitors.”
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