New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System spun out its Genetic Testing Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai into a for-profit company, called Sema4.
Sema4, a health information company, will use screening and diagnostic tests and predictive models to help patients, clinicians and researchers predict health trajectories. The company's focus will include genetic tests developed at Mount Sinai, such as Sema4 Expanded Carrier Screen, which tests for 281 genetic diseases.
Sema4 will comprise a staff of more than 300, including clinicians, engineers and genetic counselors. Eric Schadt, PhD, dean for precision medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, will serve as CEO.
"We will incorporate patient information — including genetic, environmental, clinical, pharmaceutical and device data — to model the complexity of disease and wellness and to generate more personalized, precise and real-time insights for our patients," Dr. Schadt said.