Quest and Walmart Team Up to Provide Easier Access to Lab Tests

Although collaboration between large labs and major retailers is nothing new, the COVID-19 pandemic has infused the objective of making consumer-initiated lab tests more readily available with a new sense of urgency. Not surprisingly, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, and Quest Diagnostics, the US’ largest lab company, have played a leading role in advancing this objective. Their latest venture: Create a consumer-friendly website offering a wide range of high-quality test kits for use at home.

The Latest Quest-Walmart Collaboration

Under the collaboration, which was announced on Jan. 31, Quest will leverage its QuestDirect service so that Walmart shoppers can order Quest tests online at Walmart’s website (at WalmartQuestdirect.QuestDiagnostics.com) without first visiting a doctor. The arrangement covers 52 different tests covering not just COVID-19, but also other infectious diseases, as well as general health, heart and digestive health, women’s health, and allergies. A physician will review each purchase and place the order if he/she determines that the test is appropriate for the purchaser. Customers can then either schedule an appointment at one of Quest's 2,220 Patient Service Centers, some of which are located at Walmart stores, or arrange for delivery of an at-home collection kit, depending on the test. Home collection kits will include detailed instructions for collecting biological samples. Results will be made available, in most cases within three to five business days, through the MyQuest portal. A health care professional will also have access to the results for purposes of interpretation and, if necessary, treatment. Customers will be able to talk to a health care professional for an explanation of test results and prescriptions for necessary treatments.

Other Walmart Lab Test Collaborations

Of course, Quest and Walmart have collaborated before, including an innovative September 2020 venture with drone services provider DroneUp to test drone delivery of Quest at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits. On Jan. 31, the same day that news of the new Quest collaboration broke, Walmart announced that it was partnering with AI company Health at Scale to match employees and families covered by Walmart’s health plan with providers personalized to meet their own needs based on medical history, the provider’s history with similar patients, and other factors. Here’s a summary of some of other key strategic diagnostic deals announced in February 2022:

Strategic Alliances, Partnerships, & Collaborations

Partner 1	Partner(s) 2+	Deal Summary
Becton Dickinson	ReturnSafe	• Objective: Provide COVID-19 testing and software solution for employee health and compliance • Dynamic: Integrate BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test within the ReturnSafe testing management platform
Bio-Techne	Thermo Fisher Scientific	• Objective: Develop and commercialize Bio-Techne's ExoTru kidney transplant rejection test • Dynamic: Development and license agreement covering noninvasive, liquid biopsy assay to differentiate between T-cell mediated rejection and antibody mediated rejection
Amoy Diagnostics	Pierre Fabre	• Objective: Develop companion diagnostic kits in China • Dynamic: Kits will support marketing authorization applications for Pfizer's Braftovi (encorafenib) and Mektovi (binimetinib), neither of which is registered in China • Pierre Fabre gets exclusive rights to commercialize the drugs in Europe and Asia, excluding Japan and South Korea
DnaNudge	Pantonic Health	• Objective: Launch CovidNudge test in Australia • Dynamic: RT-PCR point-of-care test made available to correctional facilities, mining industry, and local aged care sector during Omicron surge
Dante Labs	Renato Dulbecco Foundation	• Objective: Discover new drugs for cancer, COVID-19, and rare diseases • Dynamic: New drug discovery alliance to use Dante's NGS data analysis platform to identify nanoantibodies for therapeutic applications, including treatment of COVID-19 and orphan diseases
Fluidigm	Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center	• Objective: Develop targeted stem cell therapies and research applications • Dynamic: Use Fluidigm's Imaging Mass Cytometry and Maxpar Direct Immune Profiling to analyze spatial environment of stem cells and profile the immune system in blood samples • ADSCC to receive early access to reagents and software under development at Fluidigm and evaluate new materials and products
Illumina	Beckman Coulter Life Sciences	• Objective: Develop Biomek NGenius NGS preparation system • Dynamic: Illumina to develop applications for forthcoming automated liquid handling instrument
Illumina	Jean Perrin Center at the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital	• Objective: Study clinical value of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) in late-stage cancer patients • Dynamic: Researchers to use Illumina's TruSight Oncology 500 assay to explore cancer therapy options for patients with advanced melanoma, colorectal, breast, and lung cancers
Personalis	Moores Cancer Center at University of California San Diego Health	• Objective: Discover new composite biomarkers • Dynamic: Allow UCSD physicians to use Personalis’ comprehensive genomic tumor profiling test to guide FDA-approved therapy decisions and clinical trial treatment options • Partners to also conduct research studies using NeXT Personal, Personalis' new liquid biopsy assay for minimal residual disease and cancer recurrence detection
Renegade.bio	Metabolomic Diagnostics	• Objective: Develop preeclampsia risk screening test for US market • Dynamic: Launch test that measures panel of biomarkers in blood as early indicators of preeclampsia risk and creates a personalized risk profile in early 2022
Paige	Flagship Biosciences	• Objective: Integrate digital pathology technologies for immune-oncology biomarker analysis • Dynamic: Make Flagship's TissueInsight artificial intelligence-based software for quantifying PD-L1 expression in immunohistochemistry tissue samples available directly through the Paige Platform, Paige's digital pathology software system
Paige	Mindpeak	• Objective: Enable real-time results for routine breast cancer immunohistochemistry biomarkers • Dynamic: Distribution agreement to integrate Paige’s flagship digital pathology software platform with Mindpeak's BreastIHC AI-based breast cancer analysis tool
Mainz Biomed	Laboratory Mönchengladbach MVZ Dr. Stein & Kollegen	• Objective: Expand commercial presence of Mainz Biomed’s ColoAlert colorectal cancer early detection assay • Dynamic: Mainz Biomed to co-brand ColoAlert with Laboratory Mönchengladbach and sell its PCR assay kits on an on-demand basis for use by the physicians the lab serves
Attana	Capitainer	• Objective: Clinically validate Swedish firms’ COVID-19 immune profiling technologies • Dynamic: Validate Capitainer's dried blood spot sampling cards (called Capitainer qDBS cards) for self-sampling, with Attana's SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay kit for use with its AVA biosensor system
Genetron Health	Hutchmed	• Objective: Develop companion diagnostic test for Hutchmed’s Orpathys (savolitinib) lung cancer tyrosine kinase inhibitor for Chinese market • Dynamic: Jointly validate and register Genetron Health’s NGS-based 8-gene Lung Cancer Assay (Tissue) as CDx for Orpathys
Foundation Medicine (part of Roche)	Eli Lilly	• Objective: Develop tissue- and blood-based tests as companion diagnostics for Eli Lilly's Retevmo (selpercatinib) and other therapies • Dynamic: Initial focus to study use of NGS-based FoundationOne CDx for adult patients with metastatic rearranged transfection fusion across tumor types who may be eligible for RET inhibitor Retevmo in US and EU
Applied Cells	S2 Genomics	• Objective: Jointly market Applied Cells’ MARS cell preparation and isolation technologies with S2 Genomics' Singulator 100 solid tissue dissociation system • Dynamic: MARS Acoustics technology enables label-free immune cell separation from lysed cell debris, dead cells, and other small particles • Singulator 100 system automates processing of solid tissue samples into suspensions of single cells or nuclei with high yields and from small samples
EpiCypher	New England Biolabs (NEB)	• Objective: Codevelop a novel library prep kit optimized for use with EpiCypher’s CUT&RUN epigenomic assays • Dynamic: Kit to utilize NEB's NEBNext reagents to provide a streamlined solution for preparation of CUT&RUN (Cleavage Under Targets and Release Using Nuclease) sequencing libraries
Biocartis	Ophiomics	• Objective: Commercialize HepatoPredict, a prognostic, gene-expression liver cancer test to identify patients for curative-intent surgery and liver transplantation • Dynamic: Sides target 2022 Q1 launch for HepatoPredict as a CE-marked IVD manual kit
C2i Genomics	Twist Bioscience	• Objective: Develop whole-genome cancer reference materials for cancer detection • Dynamic: C2i to use its AI algorithm to identify variants across genome associated with cancer signatures • Twist to then provide DNA synthesis for variants to create a set of reference materials for whole-genome sequencing with release reference standard kits to be released as a Twist product
Biopsomic	QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute	• Objective: Develop blood test to predict cancer patient response to treatment • Dynamic: Alliance includes technology licensing and option agreement, under which QIMR Berghofer to conduct collaborative research with Biopsomic
Agilent Technologies	MRM Proteomics	• Objective: Comarket quantitative proteomics tools • Dynamic: Partnership to cover Agilent's mass spectrometry products with MRM's kits for protein and metabolite quantitation • MRM to develop assay kits for Agilent's 6495 Triple Quad mass spec coupled to an Evosep One HPLC system • Partners to also host workshops on targeted quantitative proteomics workflows and the operation of the Evosep LC system
Seqster PDM	United BioSource (UBC)	• Objective: Support patient engagement in decentralized clinical trials • Dynamic: UBC to integrate Seqster's data aggregation technology to gather clinical and observational research data and provide portal for trial participants
Leica Biosystems (Danaher subsidiary)	Leap Therapeutics	• Objective: Develop companion diagnostic test to detect Dickkopf-related protein 1 (which is often found in cancer) • Dynamic: Test to be used to support clinical development of Leap Therapeutics' anti-DKK1 cancer therapy, DKN-01
Pacific Biosciences	Hamilton	• Objective: Develop automated solution for PacBio's Circulomics high molecular weight DNA sample prep product • Dynamic: Firms have completed and will release method for running Circulomics Nanobind KF CBB Big DNA Kit on Hamilton's Nimbus Presto liquid handling platform

Distribution, Sales, & Marketing Agreements

Product Owner	Distributor	Deal Summary
Cue Health	Cardinal Health	• Products: Cue Health’s COVID-19 molecular tests • Territory: US
Purigen Biosystems	Bonsai Lab	• Products: Purigen’s Ionic Purification System benchtop instrument for extracting, purifying, and concentrating genomic RNA and DNA from cells and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues • Territory: Spain, Portugal • Exclusive
Sense Biodetection	Una Health	• Products: Sense Biodetection’s Veros COVID-19 test, which runs on firm’s single-use, instrument-free Veros point-of-care platform • Territory: UK
Maxim Biomedical	Thomas Scientific	• Products: Maxim’s over-the-counter ClearDetect COVID-19 Antigen Home Test • Territory: US

Licenses

Licensor	Licensee	Deal Summary
Abcam	Twist Bioscience	Abcam licenses Twist’s single-domain (VHH) phage library for antibody discovery, development, and commercialization for diagnostic and research applications with Twist to retain rights to sequences for therapeutic application

Government Contracts

Contractor	Govt. Agency	Contract Summary
Abbott Rapid Dx North America	US Department of Defense	$306 million firm-fixed-price contract for COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits