Genetic Technologies Limited (ASX:GTG, NASDAQ:GENE, OTC:GNTLF) has secured a partnership agreement with Chicago-based healthcare technology company CancerIQ that provides access to 45 healthcare systems and 250 clinics. This collaboration aims to enhance cancer prevention programs by streamlining the identification of high-risk patients for healthcare institutions and clinics.
Under the agreement, Genetic Technologies’ GeneType will become CancerIQ’s first laboratory partner with a focus on polygenic-integrated clinical risk prediction. Unlike traditional approaches that primarily target hereditary cancer risk, GeneType expands the scope to include polygenic risk assessment across the general population.
With the integration of GeneType into CancerIQ’s platform, healthcare systems will now have the capability to implement polygenic-integrated clinical risk assessment for nine major diseases, including cancer and cardiometabolic conditions. This advancement marks a shift towards population-wide healthcare, offering a more comprehensive approach to early detection and prevention.
“We are very excited to have been invited to become part of the CancerIQ platform to be implemented upon completing our current capital raise. This approach will make the geneType Risk Assessment Tests more easily accessible to the clinical community,” GTG chair Peter Rubinstein said.
“We look forward to the co-marketing opportunities with CancerIQ to increase the awareness of population risk assessment. We are confident in the value of this population healthcare approach, ultimately providing the opportunity to improve the health outcomes for people generally.”
Expanding CancerIQ capabilities
In recent years, CancerIQ has demonstrated in real-world breast imaging environments that genetic testing uptake increases when its platform is incorporated into the operational workflow of imaging centres. Likewise, clinics using CancerIQ have reported a rise in identifying at-risk adults, allowing them to prioritise patients for preventive cancer screenings.
Until now, CancerIQ's services were focused on traditional risk assessment models and standard germline testing panels for hereditary cancer risk. The introduction of the geneType Risk Assessment Test portfolio marks a significant expansion for CancerIQ into primary preventative care, where the missions of both companies converge.
Both Genetic Technologies (GTG) and CancerIQ are committed to empowering healthcare providers to assess patients' comprehensive risk profiles, facilitating the personalisation of cancer prevention strategies.
A new commercial strategy
Over the past two years, commercial sales strategies in the US have primarily focused on discussions with large entities and small boutique cash-pay clinics. However, the limited commercial personnel and extended sales cycles have slowed volume growth.
A newly introduced commercial approach aims to address this issue by leveraging contract-only, commission-based sales teams, which will reduce overhead costs and expand market reach.
GeneType is expected to gain increased visibility within US healthcare systems that currently use the CancerIQ platform. CancerIQ is integrated into more than 45 health systems and over 250 clinics, with more than half focused on primary care and breast centres—areas where GeneType is particularly well-positioned.
To date, over 1 million patients in the US have been screened using the CancerIQ platform.
CancerIQ has seen widespread adoption across various clinical settings. According to the company's in-house data, the platform has significantly increased the rate of appropriate testing for at-risk patients (link: https://www.canceriq.com/resources).
Premium access
GTG is to pay an annual fee of US$75,000 to access CancerIQ’s Premium Tier. This platform not only grants access to CancerIQ’s network but also enhances the efficiency of the test ordering process.
It will automatically add geneType to the healthcare professional’s test menu and prepopulate the geneType Test Request Form, simplifying procedures for both practitioners and patients.