Major labs have partnered with the federal government, private equity firms, health systems, universities and other companies in 2022.
Here are nine lab partnerships Becker's has reported on since March 9:
1. Tampa-based University of South Florida College of Public Health was given a $1 million award from the Association of Public Health Laboratories to help grow the workforce. The college said it will use the money to cover tuition and provide a stipend to students enrolled in the public health and clinical lab science and practice DrPH program. Up to 12 students could receive full tuition in the first semester.
2. The CDC is partnering with five commercial labs, including some of the nation's largest, to quickly increase monkeypox testing capacity and access. Those labs — Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics, Aegis Science and Sonic Healthcare — will dramatically expand testing capacity nationwide with the new supply of tests.
3. Labcorp and Atlantic City, N.J.-based AtlantiCare expanded an existing long-term partnership. Under the new deal, Labcorp is acquiring assets from AtlantiCare's clinical outreach business and will operate some AtlantiCare physician office phlebotomy sites and outpatient collection services. AtlantiCare's patients will have access to Labcorp's test menu and services through the company's network of patient service centers.
4. Labcorp launched a first-of-its-kind, at-home diabetes risk testing kit. Labcorp is the only commercial lab to offer Weavr Health's Velvet blood collection device, which is part of the testing kit and is available through Labcorp OnDemand.
5. Quest partnered with Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems to expand its offering of diabetic retinal imaging services. Quest said April 4 that the IRIS platform for diabetic retinopathy screening will be available at Quest's patient service centers. The platform was previously only available to Quest patients through its HealthConnect business.
6. PathGroup, one of the largest independent labs in the U.S., has formed an investment partnership with private equity firm GTCR. As part of the deal, former Labcorp CEO and chairman Dave King is joining PathGroup's board as chair. The investment is intended to support PathGroup's expansion into Texas and other areas, as well as mergers and acquisitions.
7. Cancer diagnostic company Invivoscribe is partnering with Japanese technology company Hitachi High-Tech. Invivoscribe said the deal is aimed at accelerating the molecular diagnostics and precision medicine businesses of both companies. Hitachi's expertise in measurement and analysis systems technologies is expected to complement Invivoscribe's technology, assay and bioinformatics development, clinical testing and international regulatory expertise.
8. Brookhaven National Lab and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory are partnering with Northport (N.Y.) VA Medical Center and Stony Brook (N.Y.) University for a new biomedical research network. The network, which will be headquartered at Stony Brook University, will be called the Long Island Network for Clinical and Translational Science. It will aim to accelerate clinical care research for physical and mental health conditions.
9. Labcorp is partnering with Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health, the state's largest health system. With the agreement, Labcorp is acquiring some of Prisma Health's outreach lab assets, and the health system's patients will gain expanded access to lab testing. Labcorp will also provide technical support for Prisma's hospital laboratories and offer expanded health plan coverage and more access to rural markets.