Put It on the Board, 8/15

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Qiagen’s EGFR kit approved for use with Iressa

Qiagen has received premarket approval of its Therascreen EGFR RGQ PCR kit as a companion diagnostic to guide the use of AstraZeneca’s Iressa (gefitinib) in the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The test can help identify NSCLC patients who have tumors that are positive for EGFR mutations and therefore are eligible for treatment with AstraZeneca’s drug.

Along with the Therascreen EGFR test to analyze tissue from lung tumors, the FDA approved Iressa for first-line treatment of NSCLC in patients identified with the aid of an FDA-approved companion diagnostic.

Orchard Software launches analytics unit

Orchard Analytics, a new business unit of Orchard Software, provides analytics services and advanced training to support pathologists, laboratory leaders, and administrators in learning to use health care data from disparate sources to improve care and reduce costs.

The first in-person training class is scheduled for Oct. 19–22 in Indianapolis. The training will be led by unit director and pathologist Brad Brimhall, MD, MPH, professor of pathology and medicine and senior consultant for enterprise data warehouse and clinical analytics at University of Mississippi Health Care.

More information, including white papers and case studies demonstrating the real-world value of laboratory data analysis, is available at www.orchard analytics.com.
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