Augurex Life Sciences, a company engaged in autoimmune biomarker diagnostics, has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to enhance rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnosis and management.
Under the non-exclusive agreement, Quest Diagnostics will validate and offer a lab-developed test based on Augurex’s 14-3-3η (eta) biomarker in the US.
Quest Diagnostics plans to offer the test to physicians starting 2 December 2024, from its advanced lab in San Juan Capistrano, California.
With a physician’s order, patients can provide a blood sample at any of Quest’s 2,000+ patient service centres across the US.
Augurex CEO Neil Klompas said: “Reintroducing the 14-3-3eta test with Quest Diagnostics is an important step in meeting the evolving needs of RA patients and clinicians.
“With the increasing recognition of 14-3-3eta as a valuable biomarker in inflammatory diseases, Quest’s reintroduction of this test to physicians in the US will expand access to an important tool for speeding treatment decisions.”
The 14-3-3eta test detects elevated levels of the 14-3-3eta protein specific to RA. Higher levels are associated with more severe disease and an increased risk of joint damage, Augurex said.
Quest Diagnostics immunology and R&D medical director James Faix said: “Our agreement with Augurex builds on our record of innovation in autoimmune disease, which includes being the first US lab provider to introduce a lab-developed test based on the Augurex 14-3-3eta biomarker more than a decade ago.
“We look forward to reintroducing our 14-3-3eta lab-developed test to physicians later this month.”
Augurex is a commercial-stage diagnostics company focused on the early detection of autoimmune disorders, enabling personalised treatment worldwide.
Its lead test, JOINTstat, detects the 14-3-3eta protein and is used to diagnose and manage inflammatory diseases like RA.
The company also offers Anti-14-3-3eta Multiplex Analyte Specific Reagents (ASRs), expanding its solutions to axial spondyloarthritis, an autoimmune disease often mistaken for low back pain.
This month, Augurex and New Day Diagnostics announce the launch of Anti-14-3-3eta Multiplex ASRs for axial spondyloarthritis.
Last month, the diagnostics firm announced that ARUP Laboratories, a US reference lab, has launched the 14-3-3η test as part of its diagnostic portfolio.
