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Prescription data alone underestimated how many patients combined opioids and benzodiazepines, an analysis of Quest Diagnostics drug test data indicated. Among a selected sample of patients whose drug test indicated concurrent benzodiazepine and opioid use, 64% had at least one benzodiazepine or opioid that was not prescribed, according to Quest researcher Leland McClure, PhD, and colleagues in a poster presentation at the 2018 PAINWeek conference.

Genomic Vision, a company specializing in the development of diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancers and hereditary diseases, and applications for life sciences research, today announces the second payment from its collaboration with Quest Diagnostics on biomarker identification of currently undetected “2+0” SMA carriers following the Milestone program signed in 2018. A first Milestone (1a) was reached at the end of 2017, resulting in the design and validation of a new GMC covering with higher precision the complex SMA region. The goal of the second Milestone (1b) consisted in performing complementary experiments and analysis on existing samples in order to identify smaller biomarkers for SMN1 cis-duplication potentially leading to SMA diagnostic test.

Quest Diagnostics announced Tuesday it will acquire the US laboratory testing business of Oxford Immunotec Global for $170 million in cash. As part of the definitive agreement reached by the companies, the acquisition will include the T-Spot.TB tuberculosis testing service and the Accutix tick-borne disease testing service provided by Oxford Immunotec laboratories in Norwood, Massachusetts and in Memphis, Tennessee. Oxford Immunotec is headquartered in Abingdon, UK.

More than half of Americans tested by Quest Diagnostics in 2017 misused prescription drugs, a statistic that has remained relatively flat and suggests that medication adherence is more difficult as the opioid epidemic swells. The misuse rate — meaning tests reveal additional drugs (non-prescribed or illicit), different medications than prescribed, or no prescription or illicit drugs — was 52% in 2017 and 2016, and has remained relatively stagnant since 2013, according to Quest Diagnostics' analysis of 3.9 million clinical drug monitoring tests administered between 2011 and 2017.

Hooper Holmes, Inc. d/b/a Provant Health , the largest publicly traded, pure-play health and well-being provider in the U.S., today announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Summit Health, Inc., a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics (“Quest”), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic testing, information, and services. Under the asset purchase agreement, Quest will acquire substantially all of Provant Health’s assets and will continue the Company’s service offerings as it has in the past. Throughout the transaction process, Provant Health will continue to serve its customers, remaining focused on meeting customer and partner obligations in the busy fourth quarter season.