The complexity of the NGS process, compounded by sample processing, results in unique challenges for clinical oncology laboratories
Increasingly, clinical samples of all types are being analyzed with the goal of matching patients to target therapies. In the summer of 2017, Thermo Fisher received the first FDA companion diagnostic test approval for multiple non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapies, while Foundation Medicine received FDA approval for their FoundationFocus CDxBRCA as a companion diagnostic for an ovarian cancer […]
Pillar NGS panels go global with increased platform versatility
Pillar Biosciences, an NGS diagnostics company based in Boston, MA, announced today that Pillar® ONCO/Reveal™ NGS panels are now compatible with Illumina®, Ion Torrent™, and MGI™ sequencing platforms. Additionally, Pillar has entered into a co-marketing agreement with MGI that will highlight the compatibility between Pillar’s NGS assays and MGI’s sequencing platform-agnostic sample prep robotics. “With […]
5 reasons to go custom with your next sequencing panel
Off-the-shelf next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels save on sequencing costs by targeting specific genes, and the smaller resulting datasets are easier to analyze. The catch is, panels are limited to a defined set of genetic targets. This one-size-fits all approach is not well-suited to the cancer research community’s rapid pace of discovery. Custom panels, on the […]
Garbage in, greatness out: making the most of FFPE samples
The cancer research community relies on formalin-fixed samples, but the quality of these samples degrades over time. Sequencing data from partially degraded samples is plagued with artifacts. To address this “garbage in, garbage out” problem, Pillar Biosciences has developed a suite of tools that help sort actual variants from artifactual variants in low quality samples. […]
Meet SLIMamp: Columbia University’s new tumor sequencing workhorse
Next generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying tumor variants. Tumor sequencing workflows often rely on off-the-shelf panels, which allow for multiplexed amplification of known cancer mutational “hotspots”. These panels are diagnostically useful, but they can’t keep pace with the cancer research community’s diligent uncovering of new, previously unknown hotspots, genes, and […]
Columbia University Medical Center Receives Conditional Approval by the New York State Department of Health for a Custom Pillar Biosciences NGS Panel
BOSTON, May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Pillar Biosciences, a clinical cancer diagnostics company based near Boston, MA, announced today that the Columbia Solid Tumor Panel, a next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel, received conditional approval by the New York State Department of Health for clinical use by the Laboratory of Personalized Genomic Medicine at Columbia University Medical […]
Pillar Biosciences Enters Strategic Partnership With China Biotech Services Holdings to Deliver Precision Diagnostics to Markets in Asia
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNEWSWIRE/ – Pillar Biosciences, Inc., a clinical cancer diagnostics company based in Boston, MA and Shanghai, China, is forming a strategic partnership and joint venture with China Biotech Services Holdings, Ltd (CBSH; HKSE:08037). The agreement was signed on January 9th at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. […]
Workshop: Single-vial amplification-based NGS to interrogate variants in tumors with limited diagnostic material
Helen Fernandes, PhD, Co-director of Genomic Oncology at Columbia University, presented a talk on October 31, 2018 during the Corporate Workshop Day at the 2018 Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Click below to watch Dr. Fernandes’ talk: Click here In her talk, titled “Single-vial amplification-based NGS with rapid turn-around […]
Pillar Biosciences Announces Issuance of China and U.S. Patents Covering SLIMamp™ Technology
NATICK MASSACHUSETTS, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNEWSWIRE/ – Pillar Biosciences, Inc. a manufacturer of precision next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels and software solutions for robust and cost-effective clinical sequencing, announces that key patents covering its SLIMamp™ technology have been issued in its most important markets China and the United States. The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of […]
Pillar Biosciences announces ISO 13485:2016 Certification
NATICK MASSACHUSETTS, Nov. 29, 2017 /PRNEWSWIRE/ – Pillar Biosciences, Inc. a manufacturer of precision next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels and software solutions for robust and cost-effective clinical sequencing, announces it has received ISO 13485:2016 certification for design, development, manufacture, and distribution of products for the clinical oncology laboratory within a comprehensive quality management system (QMS). The […]