Be The Match Partners with LabCorp to Help Grow Donor Registry
Enhanced partnership will support equal transplant outcomes for blood cancer and blood disorder patients
Be The Match® and LabCorp have enhanced their long-standing partnership through the launch of an information and enrollment campaign at LabCorp patient service centers with a goal to add a greater number of, and more diverse, potential blood stem cell donors to the Be The Match Registry®. The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), the world's leading nonprofit organization focused on saving lives through blood stem cell transplantation, operates the Be The Match Registry. LabCorp is a leading global life sciences company with a mission to improve health and improve lives through compressive clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services.
Be The Match and LabCorp have launched a joint donor recruitment effort, at selected LabCorp patient service center across 45 states, to provide information to patients about Be The Match and how potential donors can join the Registry. Registry enrollment is done online at https://BeTheMatch.org or through donor registry drives. Potential donors provide a self-collected cheek swab, which is tested by LabCorp to determine a potential donor's human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type and then compared by Be The Match with the HLA type of a patient needing a transplant to identify a potential genetic match.
This initiative is the beginning of a multi-year joint program to increase Registry enrollment, with a particular goal of adding more members of diverse ethnic backgrounds in the 18- to 44-year-old age range. Patients are most likely to match a donor of their own ethnic background, and a larger pool of potential blood stem cell donors from diverse ethnic groups will give a greater number of patients a better chance of finding a compatible donor and experiencing an improved transplant outcome.
"Be The Match recognizes that our obligation is to our patients," said C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Be The Match. "Everything, all that we do, supports that philosophy. We are implementing new strategies, like this partnership with LabCorp, to increase the diversity of the donor registry and provide more options—and better outcomes—to our patients."
The 25-year partnership between Be The Match and LabCorp has led to innovations that have transformed donor testing in support of blood stem cell donations, including the introduction of DNA-based, next generation sequencing (NGS) HLA testing, and implementing wide-scale use of buccal swab specimen collection from the cheek in place of traditional venous blood collection.
"This program to increase awareness of the Be The Match Registry is a natural fit with LabCorp's mission to improve health and improve lives," said David P. King, chairman and chief executive officer of LabCorp. "Supporting awareness and donor registration through our patient service center network will help to increase Registry participation, particularly among underrepresented groups, and will improve the quantity and quality of donor matches."
For more information about this partnership and how you can join the donor registry, visit: bethematch.org/LabCorp.
About Be The Match®
For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other blood diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving blood stem cell transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry®, financial contributor or volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant.
Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.
About LabCorp
LabCorp (NYSE: LH), an S&P 500 company, is a leading global life sciences company that is deeply integrated in guiding patient care, providing comprehensive clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services. With a mission to improve health and improve lives, LabCorp delivers world-class diagnostic solutions, brings innovative medicines to patients faster and uses technology to improve the delivery of care. LabCorp reported net revenues of over $10 billion in 2017. To learn more about LabCorp, visit www.labcorp.com, and to learn more about Covance Drug Development, visit www.covance.com.