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Strand Life Sciences’ NGS Laboratory First In India To Receive Both CAP And NABL Accreditations
2/25/2016 10:59:00 AM
BANGALORE, India & DENVER­­(BUSINESS WIRE)­­Strand Life
Sciences, a global genomic profiling company aimed at empowering
personalized cancer care and genetic testing for inherited diseases,
announced that its Next­Generation Sequencing (NGS) laboratory, the
Strand Center for Genomics & Personalized Medicine, located at
Bangalore, has recently received certificates of accreditation from the
College of American Pathologists (CAP), and the National
Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL),
respectively. With these accreditations, Strand’s pioneering NGS
laboratory is the first and only facility in India to receive both
prestigious recognitions, signifying NGS testing at the highest quality
standards in the country and neighboring geographical regions.
“We believe Strand’s NGS laboratory is the first and only CAP
and NABL accredited laboratory in India. As the regional leader
in this advanced field of multi­gene testing in genomic medicine,
it is important for us to set the highest laboratory standards.”
The CAP laboratory accreditation program is recognized by the U.S. federal government as equal­to or more­
stringent­than the government’s own laboratory inspection programs. Similarly, the accreditation by NABL, the sole
government­authorized laboratory accreditation body in India, is in accordance with ISO 15189:2012 standards. The
accrediting processes by both organizations are designed to ensure that laboratories comply with the highest
standards, and adhere to rigorous criteria for quality assurance. During the CAP accreditation process, inspectors
examine the laboratory's quality system, quality control protocols and records for the preceding two years. Both
programs pay very close attention to staff qualification, equipment, safety programs, and overall management of
clinical laboratories.
This recognition by CAP and NABL accredits three of the most popular tests offered by the Strand Center laboratory.
First, the StrandAdvantage 48­gene Test, used by medical oncologists to profile cancer patients for somatic mutations
and personalize treatment by selecting targeted therapies. Second, the Strand® Germline Cancer Test, an 86­gene
hereditary cancer test to estimate inherited cancer risk, enabling early detection & prevention. Third, the Strand®
Rare Diseases Test, covering more than 500 genes and 400 rare inherited diseases, used for confirmation of
diagnosis and carrier testing in couples.
Dr. Vijay Chandru, PhD, Executive Chairman, Strand Life Sciences, stated, “We are extremely proud to receive
CAP and NABL accreditations. Receiving these accreditations is a major accomplishment, because it reaffirms our
commitment to providing the highest quality of diagnostic testing and services to hospitals, physicians, and most
importantly patients across the country. It is Strand’s goal to bring genomics­based precision medicine to routine
clinical practice; hence the accreditations serve as an important milestone in that direction”. Dr. Chandru added, “We
believe Strand’s NGS laboratory is the first and only CAP and NABL accredited laboratory in India. As the regional
leader in this advanced field of multi­gene testing in genomic medicine, it is important for us to set the highest
laboratory standards."
“It is imperative that physicians feel confident while sending patient samples for specialized and esoteric testing, such
as NGS for cancer and rare inherited disorders. These diagnostic tests require advanced laboratories and expert
personnel to analyze and interpret complex genetic information. Laboratories whose quality systems have been
accredited by organizations such as CAP and NABL will give physicians much needed confidence to refer precious
patient samples,” said Dr. Nanda Rajaneesh, MBBS, MS, MRCS, FAMS, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, Apollo
Spectra Hospitals, Bangalore.
Dr. Preveen Ramamoorthy, PhD, Global Head of Diagnostics, Strand Life Sciences, said, “Our NGS facility in
Aurora, Colorado, is a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) accredited laboratory. Now, the
accreditation of our India facility by CAP and NABL (ISO 15189) validates our ability to perform high quality clinical
NGS testing and perform bioinformatics and clinical interpretation to international quality standards in every facility
that we operate.

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About Strand Life Sciences
A History of Innovative Genomic Research
Strand Life Sciences is a global genomic profiling company aimed at empowering cancer care and genetic testing for
inherited diseases. Strand works with oncologists, pathologists, and hospitals to enable faster clinical decision support
for accurate molecular diagnosis, prognosis, therapy recommendations, and clinical trials. Strand’s central reference
laboratories are located in Bangalore, India and Colorado, USA. For more information, visit www.strandls.com.
About the College of American Pathologists
As the leading pathology organization with more than 18,000 board­certified pathologist members, the College of
American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in
the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine. The CAP's Laboratory Improvement Programs, initiated 65 years
ago, currently has customers in more than 100 countries, accrediting 7,700 laboratories and providing proficiency
testing to 20,000 laboratories worldwide. For more information, visit www.cap.org.
About National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories
NABL is an autonomous body under the aegis of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and is
registered under the Societies Act 1860. NABL has been established with the objective to provide Government,
Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme for third­party assessment of the quality and technical
competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Government of India has authorized NABL as the accreditation
body for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. NABL provides laboratory accreditation services to laboratories that are
performing tests / calibrations in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 15189 for medical laboratories. NABL
accreditation system complies with with Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Co­operation (APLAC) and the
International Laboratory Accreditation Co­operation (ILAC). For more information, visit www.nabl­india.org.
Contacts
Ogilvy PR, Bangalore
Soumita Majumdar, +91 9886531605
soumita.majumdar@ogilvy.com/
or
Akriti Agrawal, +91 9535933426
akriti.agrawal@ogilvy.com
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