GENinCode PLC on Friday announced its collaboration with The Family Heart Foundation, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre and more to identify and diagnose cardiovascular disease.
The Oxford, England-based genomic testing company is focused on the prevention of cardiovascular disease and ovarian cancer.
The collaboration will conduct research to improve the early diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH, through family screening and diagnostic tool LIPID inCode. It will also make further information available to physicians for polygenic hypercholesterolemia, which involves high levels of cholesterol, and coronary heart disease risk.
FH is an inherited condition, affecting 1 in 250 people globally. If a person has FH, there is a 50% chance that their children, siblings and parents also carry the familial variant. The condition means an individual has extremely low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol from birth, which ‘dramatically’ increases their risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at a young age.
Less than 30% of people with FH in the US have been identified.
Individuals tested in the program will be identified from the US-based University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre and the US-based Veteran Affairs North Texas Health Care system. After an individual is genetically confirmed to have FH, the Family Heart Foundation will conduct cascade screening to notify and treat at-risk family members.
Cascade screening is the process of screening family members once a person is diagnosed with FH in order to identify others who may be affected. This approach allows earlier treatment with cholesterol-lowering therapies and reductions in the risk of heart disease.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Family Heart Foundation Katherine Wilemon said: ‘Collaborating with GENinCode and partners to implement FH testing brings us one step closer to broader and more accessible cascade screening at a national level, helping to save future generations from cardiovascular disease. Cascade screening is a powerful, proven method to improve early diagnosis of FH and reduce preventable heart attacks and strokes. Together, we are poised to make this life-saving screening more accessible, ultimately safeguarding the health of future generations and reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease.’
Shares in GENinCode were up 3.7% at 7.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.
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