Cerner, Claritas join forces to build gene-based diagnostic testing tools

With an investment from Cerner Corp.'s venture capital arm, Claritas Genomics and the healthcare information technology company are teaming up to build tools for gene-based diagnostic testing.

Claritas joins a network of other clinical laboratory partners working with the Kansas City, Mo.-based company as it implements Cerner's Millennium Helix diagnostic testing product.

According to a statement from the companies, the partnership will provide Claritas with a computing infrastructure to integrate every step of the diagnostic process: ordering the genomic sequencing, processing in a laboratory, interpreting the results, returning the results to the clinician, and incorporating them into the patient's electronic health record.

Cerner's wholly owned subsidiary, Cerner Capital, has taken a minority stake in Claritas, and Clay Patterson, Cerner Capital's managing director, joined the Claritas board of directors. No other financial details were disclosed.

Claritas, based in Cambridge, Mass., became an independent company in February of this year after spinning off from Boston Children's Hospital and receiving investments from Life Technologies and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. With a focus on pediatric medicine, the lab offers genetic testing and analysis with clinical interpretive services from top pediatric specialists.

“Cerner has long focused on the power of genomics and its impact to clinical processes, and this relationship will help advance the field and define a meaningful narrative in personalized medicine between the realms of research, diagnostics and clinical practice,” Cerner Senior VP Dick Flanigan said in a release.

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