Mayo Clinic announced an agreement on Tuesday, Oct. 12 that will allow it to offer clinical-grade comprehensive cancer genomic sequencing to cancer patients who choose to participate. Test results will be available to patients and their treating health care providers to guide therapeutic decisions, advance cancer research, and support the development of new diagnostic tests and therapies for cancer treatment.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine are collaborating with Personalis Inc. (Nasdaq: PSNL), a cancer genomics company whose clinical-grade, comprehensive cancer genomic test includes sequencing the entire coding genome through whole-exome and transcriptome sequencing. The test will provide a clinical report for each patient and comprehensive aggregated data that Mayo Clinic and Personalis will use to further develop this comprehensive diagnostic approach.

"Our goal for this relationship is to assure cancer patients from across the world get the most comprehensive genomic testing at Mayo Clinic," says William Morice II, M.D, Ph.D., chair of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. "We're committed to making this test available to diverse patient populations who haven't yet had access to this type of testing."

"We believe the use of aggregated and de-identified genomic sequencing data will improve both patient care and patient access to care," says Konstantinos Lazaridis, M.D., medical director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine. Dr. Lazaridis says the consortium will make it possible to offer individual patients a clinical benefit in their treatment and the ability to contribute data in the aggregate that may lead to the development of new and improved treatments and systems that will benefit all patients.

"Developing individualized treatment plans for each patient based on their unique spectrum of cancer-promoting mutations is critical to our mission to provide the most advanced cancer care," says Cheryl Willman, M.D., executive director of Mayo Clinic Cancer Programs and director of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. "As we advance the Human Cancer Genome Project to more diverse and understudied populations, it is particularly important to use comprehensive sequencing methods to uncover all possible mutations.”

Dr. Willman says that collaborations with groups such as Personalis provide health care providers with access to molecular data that may offer new insights into the causes of particular cancers and also may help researchers develop more effective, personalized treatments. "Our goal is to develop our capacity for 'precision prevention' that will help us detect and treat cancers earlier in all populations," says Dr. Willman.

"We are honored to work with Mayo Clinic to increase access to advanced cancer testing," says Richard Chen, M.D., chief medical officer of Personalis. "Rapid advances in our understanding of cancer and the development of new cancer therapies are driving the need for more comprehensive testing platforms."

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education, and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. For information on COVID-19, including Mayo Clinic's Coronavirus Map tracking tool, which has 14-day forecasting on COVID-19 trends, visit the Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Resource Center.

About Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

Designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is defining new boundaries in possibility, focusing on patient-centered care, developing novel treatments, training future generations of cancer experts, and bringing cancer research to communities. At Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, a culture of innovation and collaboration is driving research breakthroughs that are changing approaches to cancer prevention, screening and treatment, and improving the lives of cancer survivors.

About Personalis Inc.

Personalis Inc. is a leader in advanced cancer genomics for enabling the next generation of precision cancer therapies and diagnostics. The Personalis NeXT Platform is designed to adapt to the complex and evolving understanding of cancer, providing its biopharmaceutical customers and clinicians with information on all of the approximately 20,000 human genes, together with the immune system, from a single tissue sample. In population sequencing, Personalis operates one of the largest sequencing operations globally and is currently the sole sequencing provider to Veterans Affairs' Million Veteran Program. To enable cancer and population sequencing, Personalis' Clinical Laboratory was built with a focus on clinical accuracy, quality, big data, scale and efficiency. The laboratory is GxP-aligned as well as Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988-certified and College of American Pathologists-accredited. For more information, visit the Personalis website and follow Personalis on Twitter.

Forward-looking statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. securities laws, including statements relating to attributes or advantages of the Personalis NeXT Platform or the test, the expected benefits of the company's collaboration with Mayo Clinic, the expected adoption of Personalis tests at Mayo Clinic, the company's business opportunities, leadership, plans, vision, growth or expansion, or other future events. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, that could cause actual results to differ materially from any anticipated results or expectations expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in Personalis' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's most recent reports on forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q, and include those listed under the caption "Risk Factors." Personalis disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements.

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