Media Coverage

Rejenevie™ Therapeutics announced the commencement of the company's Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of its proprietary AR-100 immune restoration therapy to boost the function of the aging immune system. The clinical-stage biotechnology company develops first-in-world stem cell restoration treatments targeting age-related diseases.[CR-LF]Upon arrival at the Okyanos Center, the restored stem cells are delivered back into the patient through intravenous infusion in a process lasting approximately one hour. After the patient is discharged and returns home, he or she receives periodic blood testing over a 12-month period using a kit developed with global diagnostics company Quest Diagnostics to ensure safety and to determine the therapy's effectiveness.

Quest Diagnostics, a leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced it is participating as a designated laboratory in the NCI-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH or EAY131) precision medicine trial, the largest precision medicine trial of its kind. The trial is co-led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN). Tumor gene testing by a designated lab is the only pathway for patients to enroll.

Nonfasting and fasting lipid levels from the same patients had similar results for associations with incident coronary and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to results published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Mora reports receiving grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Pfizer during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Amgen, Pfizer, and Quest Diagnostics, and grants from Atherotech Diagnostics Lab outside the submitted work. Please see study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, has once again been named the most valuable healthcare brand in the world by Brand Finance, a business valuation and strategy consultancy.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Each year, Brand Finance uses a seven-step process to assess and rank the value of thousands of companies' brands from around the world. Brand Finance uses a variety of metrics, including marketing investment and business performance, to evaluate brands to determine their strength. Access additional information about the brand valuation methodology here. Quest Diagnostics appeared at number 25.

The rate of workforce drug positivity hit a fourteen-year high in 2018, according to a new analysis released by Quest Diagnostics, a provider of diagnostic information services. Positivity rates in the combined U.S. workforce increased nearly 5% in urine drug tests (4.2% in 2017 versus 4.4% in 2018), climbing to the highest level since 2004 (4.5%) and are now more than 25 % higher than the thirty-year low of 3.5% recorded between 2010 and 2012.

Over the past several decades, public health experts and physicians have pinned a hefty portion of the blame for heart disease on saturated fat. That’s not without reason. The long-chain saturated fatty acids found in foods like steak, butter, and coconut oil raise artery-clogging low–density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. At the same time, diets high in red meat have been strongly associated with heart disease and mortality.For now, there’s no official guidance on whether to test TMAO levels or in whom. (As a coinventor of the TMAO blood test offered by Quest Diagnostics, Hazen and the Cleveland Clinic are eligible to receive royalties from its use.) There’s also no consensus on whether the metabolite should be reduced and to what level—or how. (One study suggests that low-dose aspirin partially reduces elevated TMAO.) As such, far fewer physicians offer TMAO screening compared with routine cholesterol testing.

The grass-roots trend is back and it’s bringing cannabis with it. Now that CBD is considered legal under federal law, it’s been turned into all types of wellness concoctions, from food and drink to body balms and makeup products. The wellness claims are rampant, but users still have plenty of questions regarding what goes on inside their bodies when they start using CBD (cannabidiol), and if it’s fully legal, safe and effective. The testing surrounding this topic is limited, but according to Barry Sample, director of Science and Technology at Quest Diagnostics Laboratories, only marijuana metabolites, i.e. THC, will show up in drug screenings. Until this is proven, however, it may be wise to avoid all CBD products before being screened for drugs.

In Quest Diagnostics’ decision to change addresses from Madison — its longtime corporate headquarters — to Secaucus, there was one benefit that prevailed above all others in considerations: It would be going where the talent was.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Cecilia McKenney, Quest’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer, said that’s why those in the health care company’s human resource department were the staunchest proponents of the 2016 move.

Lyme disease is in the spotlight this month in Franklin County. [CR-LF][CR-LF]The chronic and debilitating tick-borne illness is more prevalent in Pennsylvania than any other state, and has been since 2011. The number of cases varies depending on the reporting source, but the commonwealth's status as No. 1 in the nation is common among them. [CR-LF][CR-LF]Lab testing company Quest Diagnostics reported 10,001 Pennsylvanians were infected with Lyme disease in 2017. The number of cases increased significantly from 2016 and increased by 78 percent from 2015.

Ticks and the diseases they carry are on the move, rapidly expanding into new territories once considered inhospitable.[CR-LF][CR-LF]While many factors are to blame, the U.S. government affirmed with "high confidence" in a report that one reason is warmer weather connected to climate change.In the last decade, the number of cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. have tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The risk of this tick-borne disease was historically concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, but a recent study by lab giant Quest Diagnostics found cases of Lyme have been detected in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.