Tempus today announced a new initiative that will allow physicians to sequence a second patient sample without additional charge, removing a barrier that oftentimes stands in the way of a patient being sequenced.
The Tempus xT panel analyzes 595 genes relevant to the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic targeting of cancer. The panel will sequence a patient’s tumor DNA and RNA, as well as a matched normal blood or saliva to help ordering clinicians determine the targeted therapies and/or clinical trials that are most appropriate for their patients.
“Our goal at Tempus is to improve patient outcomes and one of the surest ways to do that is empowering researchers and physicians with data that can accelerate research and advance patient care,” said Eric Lefkofsky, founder and CEO at Tempus. “After talking with oncologists across the country eager to usher in an era of precision medicine, we are committed to bringing technology and real-world evidence to the point of care, improving the lives of patients battling disease.”
Improving patient outcomes can mean going beyond a single test result or snapshot-in-time during the course of their treatment. The factors that impact a patient’s response to treatment are dynamic and ever-changing—age, environment, tumor biology—and thus a static evaluation can limit clinicians’ ability to alter treatment based on resistance or response.
“We believe the path to modern precision medicine is understanding patients’ clinical and molecular journey over time,” said Gary Palmer, Chief Medical Officer at Tempus. “Including a second sequencing result in the Tempus xT assay will give physicians better access to real-time data of a patient’s tumor biology and applicable treatment options. Through this approach, patients can benefit from the treatment of others who came before.”
A second sequencing result for the same patient will be included for patients clinically sequenced with the xT test as long as the second sequencing assay occurs within 18 months of initial sequencing.
Tempus, founded in 2015, continues to expand its network of partners and is currently working with leading academic medical centers, NCI designated cancer centers, hospital networks and community oncologists across the United States. Given recent growth, the Tempus platform now touches nearly 1 in 4 cancer patients in the United States.
About Tempus
Tempus is a technology company that is building the world’s largest library of molecular and clinical data and an operating system to make that data accessible and useful. We enable physicians to deliver personalized cancer care for patients through our interactive analytical and machine learning platform. We provide genomic sequencing services and analyze molecular and therapeutic data to empower physicians to make real-time, data-driven decisions. Our goal is for each patient to benefit from the treatment of others who came before by providing physicians with tools that learn as we gather more data.