Apollo Hospitals through its subsidiary Sapien Biosciences will now introduce several genomic tests as part of its personalised-medicine initiative.

Sapien was launched in December 2012 with the objective of being a world-class biobank and personalised-medicine company that will bring novel diagnostics to Apollo, either on its own or in collaboration with best-of-breed institutions world-wide thereby improving patient outcomes.

Previously Apollo, through Sapien, had launched India’s first, personalised test that combines assessment of a patients’ genotype and their platelet function to allow the physician to personalise anti-platelet therapy.

The company has been working with multiple genetic testing providers in India to develop and customize tests for introduction at Apollo. The first of these tests, to be launched shortly, shall be a clinical genomics panel for oncology that is designed to identify the mutations that drive cancer initiation and progression. Insights obtained from this test will enable prediction of patients’ response to their medication allowing the physician to tailor treatment to the patients’ genomic profile.

Along with the cancer genomic panels, it will also introduce inheritable eye and cardiovascular diseases. Further genetic tests planned for roll-out include single gene panels for specific cancers such as BRCA1/2other disease-specific genetic testing panels like diabetes and autism, pharmaco genetic panels for assessment of response to specific drugs and peri-natal diagnosis of genetic disorders.

According to Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals, genetic tests, that are increasingly being adopted globally will have a major impact on the delivery of quality clinical care and we are planning to integrate them into our clinical practice, in a manner consistent with global best practices.

“Apollo introduced the concept of Personalized Health Checks (PHCs) in 2013.  Going forward, these PHCs will include an optional genetic test to assess an individual’s risk factors for diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disorders. Such tests will allow our clinicians to personalise their patients’ health-check follow-up and assess risk factors that can potentially impact their long-term health outcomes,” Sangita Reddy, executive director, Apollo Hospitals

 “The comprehensive roadmap developed by Sapien anticipates the launch of various genetic tests over the course of the next few months across the Apollo network, in partnership with key collaborators. We have a highly qualified, internationally experienced team that will play a major role in the systematic roll-out and integration of genomic testing and other advanced diagnostic tests at Apollo,” stated Sreevatsa Natarajan, co-founder & chief executive officer, Sapien Biosciences.