Cambridge Healthtech Institute Enters Into An Agreement With Genomics Collaborative, Inc., And AmeriPath, Inc. To Develop Genomics Educational Programs.

Business/Health Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & RIVIERA BEACH, Fla.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 5, 2001

Cambridge Healthtech Institute announced today an agreement with Genomics Collaborative, Inc., and AmeriPath, Inc. (Nasdaq: PATH) to develop genomics educational programs aimed at practicing physicians.

The program focuses on the practical knowledge needed by the doctor to incorporate the new genetics into their daily clinical practice. Topics include how to order and interpret genetic susceptibility tests, patient counseling and privacy issues, pharmacogenomics, the evolving doctor patient relationship, and billing and office management issues. The entire schedule can be viewed at www.genomics101md.com.

Cambridge Healthtech Institute and the University of Iowa College of Medicine are jointly sponsoring the Continuing Medical Education Courses in Alexandria, Virginia (May 11- 12, 2001), Chicago, Illinois (June 8-9, 2001), and San Diego, California (June 15-16, 2001).

"For some time now, everyone in the genomics field has recognized the need for educational programs to help primary care physicians understand how the new genetics will transform diagnosis, treatment, and classification of common diseases," said Phillips Kuhl, President of Cambridge Healthtech Institute. "I am very pleased that Genomics Collaborative and AmeriPath have extended major unrestricted educational grants to underwrite a pilot program of three 2-day Continuing Medical Education courses in different parts of the country." Additional funding support has been obtained from diaDexus, Inc., Third Wave Technologies, Inc., and First Genetic Trust, Inc.

"As a practicing cardiologist, I can personally attest to the need for physicians to keep abreast of all the changes coming out of the genomics revolution," stated Course Director and University of Iowa Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Biomedical Communications Michael G. Kienzle, MD. "We have designed a course that is geared towards the needs of the practicing community physician."

Kenneth J. Conway, President of Millennium Predictive Medicine, Robert Fineman, MD, from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and Arthur L. Holden, Chairman and CEO of First Genetic Trust and Chairman of the SNP Consortium, are among the many leading experts from academic medicine and industry who will address the participating physicians over the two days of seminars, panel discussions, and lectures.

"AmeriPath's participation in this educational program is just one of many genomic initiatives we are undertaking, and we hope this pilot program develops into a much more extensive ongoing educational process," said James C. New, Chairman, President, and CEO of AmeriPath. AmeriPath, Inc. is the nation's largest company focused on providing anatomic pathology, advanced cancer diagnostic, genomic, and related healthcare information services to physicians, hospitals, national clinical laboratories, and managed care organizations. The Company's 426 physicians provide medical services through 42 outpatient pathology laboratories, 224 hospital inpatient laboratories, and 64 outpatient surgery centers in 21 states.

"Everyone in the genomics field sees a major role for the primary care physician in delivering genetics to the individual patient. It is critical that a program has been designed with a major emphasis on ethical issues and that includes presentations by genetic counselors and patients to emphasize the human face of all the exciting advances in genomics," said Kent Bottles, MD, Chief Knowledge Officer of Genomics Collaborative, Inc.

Genomics Collaborative, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1997, is a genomics company focused on discovering previously unknown relationships between human genetic variation and the nature of important diseases. The Company's scientific strategy is to utilize its LARGE SCALE GLOBAL GENOMICS TM platform in exploiting the power of bioinformatics, genotyping association studies and functional genomics. Such studies are designed to detect subtle associations between genetic variation and disease incidence, severity or treatment, and are dependent upon the availability of large numbers of well-characterized patients and tools with which to analyze their genetic information. GCI intends to conduct these studies and apply any resulting discoveries to the development of high value pharmaceutical and diagnostic products pursuant to collaborations with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and genomic companies, and on its own.

Cambridge Healthtech Institute organizes scientific conferences and publishes market reports about the latest technological developments in such areas as genomics, drug discovery and development, lab instrumentation, and blood products. CHI holds over 50 national and international events each year, including the well regarded Genome Tri-Conference, held every March in San Francisco.