Goal is to advance firm’s molecular tests and development of personalized therapy.

The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles will operate as a Roche Molecular Center of Excellence (MCOE) for the next five years. This MCOE is reportedly among the first centers of excellence to offer physicians and patients technologies such as Roche’s cobas® 4800 BRAF V600 Mutation Test, a companion diagnostic recently approved by the FDA to identify patients who are eligible for treatment with the drug Zelboraf™ for inoperable or metastatic melanoma.

Established in 2002, Roche’s MCOE program is designed to create an alliance network that enables non-competing regional laboratories across the U.S. to collaborate and capitalize on scientific knowledge in molecular testing and, in turn, help accelerate the advancement of new test methods and technology.

For Cedars-Sinai, the MCOE relationship offers a focal point to bring together many existing initiatives related to personalized medicine diagnostics as well as a newly created Advanced Biorepository and Morphology Translational Core. “This relationship provides excellent synergy with our vision to be a premier academic medical center in personalized medicine through state-of-the-art translational research for the best patient outcome,” says Mahul Amin, chair of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine.

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