Optithera, ELNA Medical Group, and Génome Québec have signed an agreement as part of Genome Canada's Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) to further develop and distribute a genomic test to predict the risk of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The partners have collectively invested $12.8 million Canadian ($9.5 million U.S.) in the public-private collaboration. The saliva-based test created by Optithera combines genomic information and artificial intelligence-based analysis to predict a patient's risk of serious cardiovascular and renal complications of type 2 diabetes. Under the agreement, ELNA Medical Group plans to offer the test through its national network of clinics, while GAPP is providing funding to support further development of the test.
The project involved the analysis of nearly 600 genomic variants associated with cardiovascular and renal disease in more than 1 million people, with a risk prediction model developed through analyzing the clinical and genetic data of participants from 17 countries included in the Advance trial, one of the largest global studies on patients with diabetes.
"Our genomic risk prediction test is thoroughly researched and has already been validated to help identify people at higher risk of developing a number of cardiorenal complications associated with T2 diabetes, such as myocardial infarction, stroke and diabetic nephropathy," Dr. Pavel Hamet, a professor at the University of Montreal and president of Optithera, said in a statement from the firm.
