ARUP Announces Partnership with TellBio for Use of TellBio’s Novel Circulating Tumor Cells Technology

May 14, 2021

ARUP Laboratories on May 10 announced it has signed a strategic agreement with Massachusetts-based TellBio Inc. to use the company’s TellDx circulating tumor cells (CTCs) technology in several research applications. ARUP has also invested in TellBio as part of the startup’s series A financing round. Other funding partners include Crocker Ventures, Genetron Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: GTH), the National Foundation for Cancer Research, and several angel biotechnology investors.

“We are pleased to partner with TellBio in the company’s development and deployment of innovative technologies that hold great promise in advancing personalized medicine in the treatment of cancer,” said Adam Barker, PhD, director of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology. “We see numerous potential applications that may serve to advance laboratory medicine to the great benefit of patients.”

“This announcement is testament to the fact that ARUP, integrated with the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology, continues to be a worldwide leader in innovative laboratory research and development,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah.

TellBio’s TellDx technology allows for the isolation of CTCs in liquid biopsies, regardless of cancer type.

Barker said TellDx will be deployed by ARUP researchers at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute.

“We are excited to partner with ARUP, a premier, national reference lab, to enable detection and monitoring of CTCs as part of its ongoing research efforts…,” said Annie Partisano, PharmD, MS, senior vice president and head of operations at TellBio.