PacBio (PACB) Ties Up to Boost Rare Disease Diagnosis in Canada
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. PACB, also popularly known as PacBio, recently partnered with Care4Rare Canada Consortium (“Care4Rare”) in order to study some of the most complicated unexplained rare disease cases within Canada. It is worth mentioning that the study will utilize PacBio’s HiFi long-read whole genome sequencing (WGS) technology to learn about rare disease samples, already sequenced with short-read WGS technology, but for which no genetic variant was found.
Care4Rare, which is led out of the CHEO Research Institute affiliated with the University of Ottawa, comprises 21 academic sites throughout Canada. It is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the genomics and personalized medicine space.
Per management at CHEO Research Institute, PacBio’s HiFi sequencing will aid in the exploration of new areas of the genome that will help accelerate diagnostic care and offer insights into new avenues of biology.
The latest research collaboration is expected to significantly strengthen PacBio’s global genetic analysis business.
Rationale Behind the Collaboration
It is noteworthy to mention that there are above 7,000 rare diseases that impact around one million Canadians with the cause of more than one-third of such diseases being unknown.
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Per management at PacBio, this collaboration will help in finding answers in rare diseases. According to management, superior quality, long-read WGS is the future of rare disease research. Studies like this one are likely to have a significant impact on the medical community’s ability to turn that future into reality soon.
Market Prospects
Per a report by Grand View Research, the global genomics market was valued at $20.1 billion in 2020 and is projected to witness a CAGR of 15.4% from 2021 to 2028. Given the market potential, the collaboration seems to have been timed well.
Notable Developments
In December 2021, the company partnered with the UCLA Institute for Precision Health and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The research collaboration is aimed at identifying the causes behind rare diseases.
In November, PacBio collaborated with ARUP Laboratories to conduct a study intended to assess if the solve rate for rare diseases can be improved. It is worth mentioning that ARUP Laboratories bought a PacBio Sequel IIe system for utilization in the Utah NeoSeq Project.
Price Performance
Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have lost 48.3% in the past year, against the industry’s growth of 3.8%.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space include Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO, Abiomed, Inc. ABMD and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings LH.
Thermo Fisher surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.02%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Thermo Fisher’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 14%. The company’s earnings yield of 3.7% compares favorably with the industry’s (3.6%).
Abiomed beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 5.8%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Abiomed’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 20%. The company’s earnings yield of 1.2% compares favorably with the industry’s (3.6%).
Laboratory Corporation surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 25.7%. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.
Laboratory Corporation’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 10.6%. The company’s earnings yield of 9.4% compares favorably with the industry’s 3.4%.
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Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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