LifeLabs opens genetics laboratory

TORONTO – LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services has announced the opening in Toronto of Canada’s largest, privately owned genetics laboratory. The new lab will make cost effective, clinically relevant genetic testing more accessible to all Canadians, the company said.

“LifeLabs is proud to make clinically relevant genetic testing more broadly available to Canadians through our new genetics lab. As genetics continues to transform healthcare delivery, LifeLabs will continue to be at the forefront, working with our government partners and many others to find the most cost effective and meaningful way to deliver this service to Canadians,” said Sue Paish, LifeLabs President and CEO.

“With the opening of our genetics laboratory in Canada, LifeLabs is helping healthcare providers and patients access genetic testing where they live; receive the information they need faster; and be supported by experts who are familiar with our healthcare system.”

As a leading Canadian community laboratory services provider, LifeLabs’ extensive network of collection centres in hundreds of communities allows patients to easily and conveniently provide samples for testing. If they cannot reach a collection centre, healthcare providers may request the delivery of a free sample collection kit from LifeLabs Genetics.

“As this new era of personalized medicine evolves, LifeLabs is thrilled to perform genetic tests in Canada and to build genetics expertise and experience in our own country,” said Jeff Sumner, Senior Vice-President, Business Development, Clinical Affairs and Genetics. “With help from our partners, the genetics lab will help bring Canadian-developed technology to market and build genetic testing capacity in Canada.”

Today’s official opening of the LifeLabs’ genetics lab follows the announcement on June 5th confirming the partnership between LifeLabs and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre to establish a national database of genomic profiles of various cancers.

Through partnerships with recognized and knowledgeable partners across academic, research and delivery sectors, LifeLabs now offers a comprehensive menu of genetic tests focused on cancer, non-invasive prenatal testing, rare inherited conditions, and pharmacogenomics. For patients and their healthcare providers, this means that genetic tests can be performed to help determine the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence; to help couples planning a family determine whether they may unknowingly pass on a serious health condition to their future children or to detect specific chromosome abnormalities in the fetus using a simple maternal blood sample.

“LifeLabs has a strong track record of delivering meaningful testing innovations that benefit patients, providers and healthcare partners,” said John Knowlton, Executive Vice-President, Legal at Borealis and Chair of the LifeLabs Board of Directors. “Through its ownership by Borealis/OMERS, the LifeLabs genetics lab will benefit hundreds of thousands of Ontario pensioners and their families while also delivering leading genetics diagnostics to Canadians across the country.”

About LifeLabs

LifeLabs is a Canadian-owned company with over 50 years of experience providing laboratory testing services to help healthcare providers diagnose, treat, monitor and prevent disease. In communities across British Columbia and Ontario, LifeLabs provides cost-effective, convenient access to laboratory testing services which are essential for optimal outcomes in healthcare. LifeLabs employs approximately 5,400 professionally trained staff and delivers over 100 million laboratory tests, serving 19 million patient visits annually. In 2013, LifeLabs acquired BC Biomedical in British Columbia and CML HealthCare in Ontario making LifeLabs the largest community laboratory in Canada. LifeLabs is indirectly owned by OMERS Administration Corporation, whose interest is managed by Borealis Infrastructure. For more information about LifeLabs Genetics visit www.LifeLabsGenetics.com. LifeLabs is a Proud Supporter of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. For more information, please see www.LifeLabs.com.