Strata Oncology, Inc., a precision oncology company advancing molecular indications for cancer therapies, announced it had completed a significant renovation and expansion of its high-throughput cancer sequencing facility, resulting in a doubling of its previous laboratory capacity. The lab expansion incorporates technology and operational throughput to deliver StrataNGSTM, a comprehensive genomic profiling test with industry-low tumor tissue requirements, to more physicians and their patients. Strata also increased its research and development capacity to continue to expand its portfolio of proprietary molecular profiling tests.
In addition to this strategic expansion, earlier this year Strata opened a new headquarters facility on the same property in Ann Arbor. The new facility provides flexible space for the company's growing business, clinical operations, scientific and software engineering teams. While most of Strata's employees continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility accommodates technology and workspace design to support the company's strategy to create an agile post-pandemic workplace.
"Over the past year, we have experienced a 50 percent growth in headcount, including 30 percent growth since the pandemic began in March," said Dan Rhodes, chief executive officer, co-founder, Strata Oncology. "The investment in an expanded cancer diagnostics testing facility and new headquarters reflects our commitment to ensure every patient with advanced cancer receives their best possible treatment and confirms the importance of Ann Arbor as our hub for advancing precision oncology. These facilities will support the growth of our team of experts as we continue to deliver market-leading offerings that will improve outcomes for patients with cancer."
A recent study presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) showed that the performance of StrataNGS on small tumor tissue samples may enable access to testing for more than double the number of patients compared to other leading CGP tests. The results from an analysis of data collected in the Strata Trial demonstrated that only 43 percent of >20,000 consecutive tumor tissue samples received for CGP met tissue surface area requirements for leading commercial hybrid-capture CGP tests. StrataNGS, a PCR-CGP test, delivered reportable results in 93 percent of all samples received.
Strata recently announced that Palmetto GBA, a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), established coverage of the StrataNGS™ test for patients with advanced stages (III or IV), recurrent, relapsed, refractory, and/or metastatic solid tumors.