Interview with Ron Andrews, President & CEO of Clarient

Clarient (CLRT) provides access to technologies and services for the characterization, assessment and treatment of cancer. The company offers a full range of diagnostic technologies and services for the clinical cancer diagnostics industry including immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, in-house molecular testing, complete tumor work-up and consultation services to follow-up and monitor disease after diagnosis.

Client services include: diagnosing solid tumors, cancer sub-typing, classifying patients into prognostic categories (i.e. low, medium and high risk groups), identifying which drugs or therapy paths are best for patients, monitoring patients on therapy, searching for residual disease during and post therapy, and detecting relapse or cancer transformation.

Clarient has over 230 different Immunohistochemistry [IHC] markers in its library. Each one of Clarient’s IHC assays goes through an extensive validation process. The company’s extensive IHC menu empowers clients to perform complex tumor workups without having to reference expensive markers from an outside laboratory.

The company uses the latest instrumentation in multi-color analysis and has more than 30 different FISH markers in its library; these markers are used to detect gene amplification, translocation or deletion and gene additions in a number of solid and hematological cancers. These markers are important factors in understanding cell growth and proliferation, as well as therapeutic response.

Recent advances in DNA, RNA and polymerase chain reaction [PCR] technology have expanded the company’s ability to analyze genetic material, leading to new tests which provide a previously unobtainable level of information about disease. Diagnostic molecular markers offer clinical pathologists the ability to quantify and detect subtle genetic changes.

At Clarient, the latest molecular technologies, techniques, and applications are used in practicing laboratory medicine. This includes the use of predictive biomarkers for treatment response and disease progression through quantification and trending analysis in tracking genetic abnormalities over a period of time.

Most recently, the company has increased its focus on targeted therapy assessment. The emergence of effective cancer treatment is one of the major medical advances of targeted drug therapy. In certain neoplasms, therapy is often curative, and the promise of long-term survival makes therapy worth the increased financial costs.

Ron Andrews has been CEO since July 2004. From August 2002, Andrews was Senior Vice President Global Marketing and Commercial Business Development at Roche Molecular Diagnostics (RHHBY.PK). In that role, he developed and led the strategic execution for all diagnostic commercial operations.