Shutdown of Claritas Genomics Comes as a Surprise to Lab Community

The recent shutdown ofClaritas Genomics came as a surprise to many lab professionals with some reports making reference to the possibility that inadequate reimbursement for genetic testing may have been the root cause (see:Sudden Shutdown of Claritas Genomics After Five Years as A Leading Source of Pediatric Genetic Testing..) Below is an excerpt from the article:[The shutdown of Claritas may be] the latest market sign of how health insurers are making it difficult for labs to get paid for proprietary molecular diagnostic assays and genetic tests....Claritas was like other genetic testing laboratories... that have long struggled to get health insurers to pay for rare disease tests. Also, Claritas and other genetic and molecular testing labs suffer financially as a direct result of the ongoing price wars among competing genetic testing lab companies....The testing lab combined low false-positive rates with interpretations fromWuXi NextCode. The clinical expertise available at...[Boston Children's Hospital] gave Claritas the best diagnostic exome in the industry in terms of technical quality and diagnostic power....The decision to close the company, the source noted, was a result of misalignment between investors at WuXi NextCode and BCH. Other sources speculated that Claritas and WuXi NextCode were considering a merger, which did not happen....Ultimately, the source stated, BCH held the controlling interest and made the business decision to close the clin...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Food and Drug Administration Genomic Testing Lab Industry Trends Lab Regulation Medical Consumerism Medical Research Public Health Source Type: blogs