News and Blog

There are certain times in your life where a single sentence can change your life’s trajectory. My sentence was, “Theo has leukemia.” For anyone who has experienced it, they know far too well that cancer spares no one.  While the warriors like my nephew bravely battle, it uproots entire families.  Time is divided between hospital and home, and normalcy no longer exists.  Watching my sweet two-year old nephew endure treatment after treatment, many of which were the same his own mother, my sister and a neuroblastoma survivor, had suffered over 30 years prior, was one of the most difficult things our family has had to do.  Second only to having to say goodbye to him.  

Partnership enables comprehensive clinical information to deliver optimal patient care

Funds to drive commercial expansion as growing number of facilities bring genomics into communities worldwide

Understanding the human genome has opened up incredible new possibilities for health. As experts in this complex field, we lead the way in bringing genomic insights into patient care so communities anywhere can benefit. Our employee spotlight shines the light on Gerald Martin, Senior Field Application Scientist.

Partnership enables local oncology genomic testing to broaden patient access to expedited, personalized care where it matters most - close to home

Our Employee Spotlight shines a light on the uniqueness of the PierianDx team. Our commitment to precision medicine and ensuring the success of our customers is the common theme amongst our team. But beyond that,  we’re as diverse and unique as they come. If you would like to join our team, click here to view our open positions.

Comprehensive Genetic Profiling Supplements Germline and Companion Diagnostic Results to Provide Holistic View for Oncologists and Patients

“It’s funny what a good hackathon can do,” remarked Ankita Parikh, Senior Software Engineer at Pierian. “I woke up feeling sad because there were no more issues to resolve!” Ankita’s sentiment was matched by about 50 of her coworkers as they participated in the second annual Pierian Hackathon. From April 22-25, over 50 Pierian team members in Pune, India and St. Louis, Missouri set out to discover, conceptualize, and prototype solutions for our customers. Over the course of three days -- and several sleepless nights--developers, and other staff members self-organized in cross functional teams across different departments from both our offices, prioritized challenges, and promptly got to work.  

According to recent estimates, almost 80% of cancer patients (1,2) in the United States are diagnosed and treated in community cancer centers. With incredibly busy schedules, providers at these centers often struggle to offer to most up-to-date, cutting edge care.

ST. LOUIS, MO., March 2, 2021 — Pierian, the global leader in clinical genomics knowledge, today announced the appointment of Lindsay Mateo as Chief Business Officer, effective immediately. In her new role, Ms. Mateo will reinforce the company’s position as the leading provider of clinical genomics solutions in the fight against cancer and hereditary disease. She will also head the company’s life sciences efforts, establishing key alliances with industry partners and biopharmaceutical companies that will ultimately provide broader access to genomic testing and precision medicine-based treatments for patients.

BALLETT Study will measure the impact of comprehensive genomic profiling on access to, and uptake of, personalized medicines and on clinical outcomes for patients

St. LOUIS, MO., February 4, 2021 — Pierian, the global leader in clinical genomics knowledge, today announced a partnership with the Belgian Society of Medical Oncology (BSMO) to study the impact of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) on clinical outcomes of late-stage cancer patients. As part of the study, nine sites across Belgium will use the Pierian interpretation and reporting solution, Clinical Genomics Workspace™ (CGW), to help determine the best therapeutic options for treatment.

Current approaches to precision medicine testing often mean that tests are outsourced to large international organizations or that they are run by independent regional labs, neither of which result in standardized clinical care systems or improved collective knowledge. In response to these challenges, the BSMO has established the BALLETT (Belgian Approach for Local Laboratory Extensive Tumor Testing) study to evaluate the impact of CGP.

CGP uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze hundreds of genes and biomarkers in tissue samples from biopsies or blood and detect those that are clinically relevant in driving cancer growth. Illumina will provide its CGP panel for tissue samples, TruSight™ Oncology 500 (TSO500), and NovaSeq™ 6000 and NextSeq™ sequencing platforms for the study. Clinical interpretation of the sequencing data will be carried out using the Pierian Clinical Genomics Workspace™ (CGW) solution.

CGW provides a streamlined, standardized analysis platform in which EU drug approvals and guidelines are matched to complex genetic variants detected in patient tumor DNA and RNA, all within a GDPR-compliant environment. Using the platform, the nine participating Belgian laboratories can collaboratively review variant pathogenicity and clinical impact for their local samples while also benefiting from the knowledge of other clinical laboratory CGW users from around the world. At the same time, the nine Belgian laboratories will provide this standardized testing and analysis close to the patient’s home, where they receive cancer care, accelerating treatment initiation. As this study will also monitor the patient outcomes during and following treatment, a true indication of those longer-term clinical benefits will be derived.

Dr. Brigitte Maes of the Jessa Hospital in Belgium, Coordinator of BALLETT study said, “As part of Belgium’s broad approach to advancing precision medicine the study will generate valuable insights into the value of CGP versus currently reimbursed sequencing approaches. For example, in addition to genetic mutations that drive cancer formation, CGP will also identify cancers driven by the TMB biomarker which can guide patients towards immunotherapy treatments. This means that the study will give access to additional treatments which may not have been considered through more traditional diagnostic testing.”

“Dr. Rakesh Nagarajan, Founder of Pierian states, “We are ecstatic to be part of this groundbreaking study. The CGW platform is in use by over 25 countries to share knowledge and facilitate better treatments and patient outcomes, and now the clinicians involved in this study will benefit from this collective knowledge while incorporating European-specific data sources, which are curated and maintained by Pierian.” He adds, “Not only will this study measure the impacts of CGP but it will provide a justification, framework, and a blueprint for other clinical laboratories around the world that wish to implement similar initiatives.”


About Pierian
Founded in 2014 out of Washington University in St. Louis, Pierian is focused on advancing cancer diagnostics and making targeted therapeutics more accessible to healthcare systems, laboratories, and patients worldwide. Its industry-leading clinical genomics technologies, CAP and CLIA accredited laboratory, IVD-ready knowledgebase and reporting solution, and expertise deliver the most integrated, trusted, and collaborative approach across the clinical care spectrum. From genomic sequencing and biomedical informatics in the laboratory to reporting and decision support at the patient’s bedside, Pierian drives the adoption of genomics in clinical care and accelerates the fight against somatic cancer and hereditary germline diseases. For more information visit www.pieriandx.com.

Media contact: info@pieriandx.com

Additional Illumina assays to be combined with the Pierian platform to reduce time, cost, and complexity of genomic reporting