AstraZeneca Spain has chosen cloud-native software company Sophia Genetics as its preferred partner for expanding HRD testing for ovarian cancer across Spain.

SOPHiA GENETICS said that the programme, which began in 2022, initially enabled five laboratories in Spain to process more than 4,000 samples, accounting for 90% of the HRD testing for patients in the country.

HRD is a key indicator of a tumour's response to certain treatments and is particularly prevalent in advanced ovarian cancer.

The collaboration aims to make HRD testing accessible to more laboratories, enhancing in-house detection capabilities.

SOPHiA GENETICS EMEA managing director Kevin Puylaert said: “We are excited to expand our testing programme across several local diagnostic facilities. This programme will not only make a difference to those who receive testing but will increase the volume of global data on HRD to help further progress on treatment options for those facing ovarian cancer.”

The testing will also expedite diagnostics by increasing the volume and speed of next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing and tumour profiling.

AstraZeneca Spain corporate affairs and market access director Marta Moreno said: “At AstraZeneca, we are focused on making the medicine precision available to patients collaborating with hospitals and reference centres throughout Spain.

“Thanks to the study of biomarkers, we can improve the approach to cancer patients, giving them treatment with greater guarantee of effectiveness and as personalised as possible, complying with our goal of chronicling cancer and getting rid of it someday as a cause of death.”

Last year, Unipath Specialty Laboratory selected the SOPHiA DDM HRD Solution of SOPHiA GENETICS.