Collaboration will make MSDA blood test easier to access in US
MS patients can get Octave test done at any of Quest's 7,000 centers
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Octave's collaboration with Quest Diagnostics will expand access to its multiple sclerosis disease activity test in the U.S.
- The MSDA blood test helps monitor disease activity for better treatment decisions.
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Doctors ordering the test can send patients to any of 7,000 Quest centers nationwide.
Octave Bioscience is entering into a collaboration with Quest Diagnostics to expand access to its multiple sclerosis disease activity (MSDA) test, which uses data from a set of blood biomarkers to measure how active a patient’s disease is in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Although the MSDA test became widely available across the U.S. earlier this year, this new strategic collaboration will allow doctors ordering the test to send patients to any of Quest’s patient service centers or in-office phlebotomists, professionals trained to draw blood.
“With Quest, the Octave MSDA test will be available nationwide and simpler for physicians to order,” Doug Biehn, Octave’s CEO, said in a company press release.
Quest operates a network of about 7,000 locations where patients can have their blood drawn. The test is then run in Octave’s certified clinical laboratory in Menlo Park, California. It is covered by several insurance providers, and Octave offers a financial assistance program to help patients who need financial support.
The goal, per the diagnostics company, is to make it easier for people with MS to get the Octave blood test.
“By making it available through our nationwide network of patient service centers, Quest is making it easier for patients and their physicians across the country to access these insights,” said Michael Racke, MD, Quest’s senior medical director of neurology.
MS is a long-term disease that damages nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Its symptoms can differ significantly from patient to patient, and care is often complex, depending mainly on a clinician’s interpretation of symptoms and MRI scans.
MSDA test shows how active a patient’s MS is
However, MRI scans are typically performed just once or twice a year, and symptoms don’t always accurately reflect true disease activity. Thus, an affordable option that can routinely monitor disease activity is crucial for better guiding treatment decisions.
Octave’s MSDA test measures levels of 18 proteins in the blood, and uses artificial intelligence to providing a score that shows how active a patient’s MS is.
For Racke, who is a board-certified neurologist, this “is an important clinical innovation because it harnesses comparatively simple blood testing to illuminate relapse and treatment response in patients with MS, helping to reduce reliance on specialized imaging technologies alone.”
The collaboration also gives Quest the rights to consider providing blood-collection services for new tests that Octave plans to release in the future.
“We are committed to delivering diagnostics that empower people and their providers to make better-informed clinical decisions and advance the standard of care in neurodegenerative diseases like MS,” Racke said.
Biehn also noted that this is the start of a long-term partnership between the two companies. With the MSDA test, the two companies will be “establishing a scalable path to bring forward additional tests from Octave’s expanding portfolio in neurological disease over time,” Biehn said.
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