July 31, 2014 | Clinical news and product releases from the past month:

The Open Medicine Institute officially launched its OpenMedNet platform, an online healthcare environment that can be used by patients, physicians, and research institutions to track detailed data on how treatments and lifestyle factors affect the management of chronic disease. (Clinical Informatics News profiled the platform in “OpenMedNet Provides a Platform for Understanding Chronic Disease.”) The Open Medicine Institute has also announced a new partnership with the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) and the initiation of two related studies that will be supported by OpenMedNet. The first study focuses on inherited lung cancer mutations, and the second will characterize genomic markers associated with lung cancer in young people. Press release 

Oracle introduced Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench, a platform that automatically aggregates, integrates and reconciles the data that clinical trials collect from internal and external data sources, including electronic data capture, laboratory, safety/pharmacovigilance, and drug supply systems. By increasing data integration and standardizing data formats throughout the study process, Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench automates the identification and correction of discrepancies in multi-source data. The platform integrates with Oracle Life Sciences Data Hub and Oracle Health Sciences InForm. Press release 

Millennium Labs expanded its Millennium PGT test, a laboratory developed pharmacogenetic test that analyzes clinically important genetic variations associated with the way patients may respond to commonly prescribed medicines. The saliva-based test provides clinicians with information that may help them individualize medication treatment decisions. Millennium PGT now includes seven additional genes, bringing the total to eleven; the newly featured genes are CYP2C9, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, VKORC1, COMT, MTHFR and OPRM1. Millennium PGT is paired with PGT Consult, a mobile application to support health care providers in optimizing patient treatment. Press release 

Syapse raised $10 million in Series B financing, led by Safeguard Scientifics with participation from Series A investor, The Social+Capital Partnership. This financing will enable Syapse to expand sales, marketing and client services, and continue product development. Syapse’s Precision Medicine Data Platform integrates data from electronic medical records, molecular testing labs, imaging and billing systems to track patients’ health longitudinally. Press release 

The tranSMART Foundation announced that the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation and the Center of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School were awarded a nearly $1 million contract from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for a research endeavor using the tranSMART platform. The team will collect and integrate previously-siloed medical and research data to make discoveries related to Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS), a very rare genetic condition with a moderate to severe impact on brain development and strong association with autism spectrum disorders. Press release

MolecularHealth appointed Gabriel Bien-Willner as medical director of its CLIA-certified next-generation sequencing lab in The Woodlands, Texas. Since the launch of TreatmentMAP, the company’s cancer treatment decision support offering, the number of incoming test requests have continued to increase. (Bio-IT World has covered the development of TreatmentMAP in “MolecularHealth Enters the American Cancer Genomics Market.”) Dr. Bien-Willner will manage the day-to-day clinical duties of the laboratory. Prior to joining Molecular Health, he served as a faculty member in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, where he conducted research in cancer biomarker discovery and the development of novel genomic technologies. Press release 

Clearbridge BioMedics launched its ClearCell FX System, a device that isolates and captures circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a blood sample, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The ClearCell FX System is available for cancer research applications, helping researchers develop new cancer treatments and study cancer metastasis biology. The system is label-free, requires only a blood draw, and can be used to longitudinally sample tumor cells throughout a course of treatment. Press release