The Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT) share price is on watch as it announced a collaboration with leading genetics company Natera.
Volpara partners with Natera
Breast screening software business Volpara has entered into a partnership with Natera Inc (NASDAQ: NTRA). Volpara called Natera a global leader in cell-free DNA testing with a market cap of more than US$10 billion, to bring Natera’s ‘Empower Hereditary Cancer Test’ to Volpara’s customers in the US.
Customers use Volpara’s market-leading breast cancer risk assessment software to make decisions for triaging patients to supplemental imaging and/or genetic testing based on their personalised risk.
Risk assessment is also required by many US insurance companies before additional testing. Genetic testing assists in earlier cancer detection and is critical in reducing treatment costs and increasing the chance of surviving.
Volpara plans to create a fully integrated ordering process for Natera genetic testing services within the Volpara breast health platform.
As part of the agreement, Volpara said it has the potential to offer increased value to mutual customers after successful clinical implementation.
Management comments
Volpara CEO Dr Ralph Highnam said:
“By adding Natera to our breast health platform, we continue to build our integrations with best-of-breed genetic testing companies in order to offer our customers greater options. Natera will allow us to continue driving the adoption of personalised breast cancer screening in the US. We continue to see strong interest in our risk offerings and the ability to direct women to the appropriate genetic testing at the right time.”
Summary thoughts about the partnership and the Volpara share price
The stronger the offering that Volpara can offer clients, the better off it will be. Hopefully this partnership will enable the ASX healthcare share to increase its average revenue per user even further over time. It is building a formidable array of services that it can offer to people.
It’s one of the ASX growth shares that I am paying close attention to.
