Rainbow, Color Partner on Genetic Testing

RainbowGenomics said recently that it is partnering with Color to provide hereditary cancer and heart health genetic risk assessment testsin Hong Kong.

Rainbow, a preferred partner of Color in Hong Kong, willoffer that firm's genetic tests for the analysis of a patient's risk for eighthereditary cancers and four hereditary heart health conditions. The partnership, Rainbowsaid, will provide a fully integrated solution for actionable clinical testresults at an affordable price point, though it did not elaborate.

Patients who express interest in Color's testswill be referred to Rainbow's network of clinics for pre-test consultations. Physicianswill also be able to order Color's tests directly from Rainbow. Patientsamples will be analyzed at Color's CLIA-certified and CAP-accreditedlaboratory in California using next-generation sequencing, Rainbow said.

Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Because of the chronic shortage of genetic counselors in theregion, coupled with the high cost of traditional cancer genetic tests, manyindividuals with known risk factors such as a family history simply have notbeen tested" Rainbow CEO Daniel Siu said in a statement. "This partnership is a significant step in closing that gap andgoes a long way to ensuring that anyone can benefit from understanding theirgenetic risk for hereditary conditions."

The company had earlier said that it planned on partneringwith US organizations to provide genetictesting in Asia, with an initial focus on Hong Kong and Japan.

Color announced last weeka partnershipwith the FH Foundation on a study to understandthe willingness of individuals with a clinical diagnosis of familialhypercholesterolemia and their family members to undergo confirmatorygenetic testing.