NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – NantHealth said today that it has signed an exclusive reseller agreement with Lunatus that will allow it to distribute NantHealth's GPS Cancer molecular profiling test to physicians in the Middle East.
Lunatus' business focuses on linking international healthcare companies and regional healthcare professionals in Arabian Gulf and Middle East markets. Under the terms of the agreement between the two companies, Lunatus will have exclusive rights to distribute GPS Cancer to physicians in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Lebanon.
NantHealth's GPS Cancer integrates quantitative proteomics with whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing data. It provides oncologists with a comprehensive molecular profile of a patient's cancer to inform personalized treatment strategies, including choice of chemotherapy.
"It is estimated that total healthcare spending in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will reach $60 billion in 2025, up from $12 billion today," NantHealth CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong said in a statement. "We're excited to partner with Lunatus to help relieve some of this financial burden by supplying community oncologists with best-in-class tools that will help to make more informed treatment decisions for cancer patients at the initial point of care."
GCC states expect to see cancer rates rise by about 150 percent to 200 percent by the year 2030, according to Lunatus President and CEO Lina Kouatly. "Our mission is to make a positive impact on those diagnosed with cancer in the hopes of dramatically reducing these devastating expectations of our region," she said. "We are so pleased to be the first to offer our partners a one-of-a-kind test that will ultimately help advance personalized cancer care."
Financial and other terms of the agreement between the two companies were not disclosed.