In a move it hopes will accelerate advancements in precision medicine, Intermountain Healthcare will launch a new genomics research and testing company called Navican Genomics to help physicians identify personalized options to treat and prevent cancer. Ingo Chakravarty, a 26-year senior executive of the health industry, has been named as the president and CEO of Navican.
In a move it hopes will accelerate advancements in precision medicine, Intermountain Healthcare will launch a new genomics research and testing company called Navican Genomics to help physicians identify personalized options to treat and prevent cancer. Ingo Chakravarty, a 26-year senior executive of the health industry, has been named as the president and CEO of Navican.
As part of Intermountain Healthcare’s integrated system, Navican will give the company the capability to test and provide treatment for the greatest number of actionable gene mutation types, offering the most advanced next-generation sequencing available, the company said in a release. In addition, Navican will have access to limited distribution and specialty drugs for patients.
Navican will use a groundbreaking sequencing test to find and target individual mutations within cancer tumors, Intermountain said. Developed at Intermountain, the test gives oncologists more confidence in determining exactly which gene mutations are causing the cancer, allowing for more precise drug treatment. This precision medicine has far fewer side-effects than standard chemotherapy, increasing the quality of life for people diagnosed with cancer who previously didn’t have any options left to try.
“Navican gives new hope to patients and their families,” said Dr. Lincoln Nadauld, executive director of Precision Genomics at Intermountain Healthcare and a Navican advisor. “Using advanced cancer-fighting tools such as the Navican test, we give physicians confidence in knowing they are doing everything that is available to them to provide the best possible care for patients.”
The healthcare industry is already realizing the promise of precision medicine through targeted therapies and actionable insights, Intermountain said. However, only a small percentage of the population is seeing improvements from personalized treatment options. Navican will be focused on combining targeted therapies with rapid improvements in technology and research to make precision medicine a viable solution for everyone with cancer.
Chakravarty will be responsible for leading a team that works with physicians, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare leaders to find treatments and clinical trial options patients wouldn’t have had access to previously. Chakravarty said Navican is also committed to advancing research and education to influence how the industry can collectively use insights to find new discoveries and sustainable solutions.
“We have reached a time where diagnostic and therapeutic technologies can become a synergistic, clinical portfolio used to aid in the management and wellbeing of community-based cancer patients, and that’s precisely what we are going to do,” said Chakravarty.
Chakravarty spent the past two decades building global business in the in-vitro diagnostic marketplace, holding senior leadership positions at Gen-Probe, Roche Diagnostics, Ventana Medical Systems and most recently as senior vice president and general manager at GenMark Diagnostics. “While I focused on diagnostic solutions in infectious diseases during my last five years in the industry, I am glad to be back in the field of oncology where I spent the majority of my professional life and most importantly where my passion is,” Chakravarty said.
“The partnership between Intermountain Healthcare and Navican will help physicians across the world provide high-quality solutions at more sustainable costs,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, president and chief executive officer at Intermountain Healthcare. “Cancer is personal and Intermountain Healthcare and Navican are creating solutions that enable individualized care for each person. This means better results for those of us needing care now and for generations to come.”
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a medical group with about 1,500 employed physicians and advanced practitioners, a health plans group called SelectHealth, and other medical services.