BC Platform cooperate with Artisan

Artisan Biomed, a non-profit organization based in Cape Town in South Africa, and the Zurich-based healthcare provider BC Platforms (BCP) have agreed terms on a partnership. The collaboration looks set to expand Artisan’s services in the field of genetic analysis, a press release explains.

The BCP software solution should help Artisan, which is connected to the Centre for Proteomic & Genomic Research in Cape Town, to improve its processes linked to ordering gene tests, accessing DNA samples, quality control and data evaluation in addition to the creation of reports. Moreover, the system also ensures better standards of data protection for patients.

Until now, the majority of South Africans as well as people in other African countries have had no routine access to precision medicine, for which analysis of individual DNA is required. The reason for this is that there is a global lack of genetic data from Africans and people of African origin, firstly as a result of genetic data not being available in a digitized and structured format, and secondly because of a lack of suitable tools for analysis and interpretation. The underrepresentation of people of African descent in genomics research has a negative impact on the development and testing of genetically focused clinical care and treatment approaches.

“In order to truly fulfil our vision to build the world’s leading analytics platform for healthcare and industry, it is critical that we support regional genomics services providers around the world. This includes those serving under-represented populations”, comments Nino da Silva, Deputy Managing Director at BCP, in the press release.