Labcorp says it can now move tumor slides at internet speed instead of parcel speed. The diagnostics giant today rolled out a Leica-scanner–based digital-pathology network across its central labs and paired it with new next-generation-sequencing panels and homologous-recombination-deficiency (HRD) testing, a package the company claims will dramatically accelerate biomarker screening for oncology studies, with the potential to significantly trim traditional timelines.
Shakti Ramkissoon, M.D., Ph.D., vice president and medical lead for oncology at the firm said Labcorp is committed to being “the trusted partner for advanced testing at every stage of cancer care.” Ramkissoon added that the expanded portfolio gives drug developers and other partners “the tools and insights they need to accelerate development programs and drive meaningful improvements in patient outcomes.”
One factor helping power this initiative is an enhanced platform tapping Leica Biosystems Aperio GT450 scanners and managed by Proscia’s Concentriq LS image management system. This combination provides scalable, file-agnostic infrastructure, enabling Labcorp to archive and manage high-volume digital slides, facilitate real-time global peer review, and integrate AI-driven image analysis for enhanced diagnostic insights.
“Companion diagnostic development is dependent on a wide range of data modalities — often sourced from locations distributed globally — and with insights derived from an increasingly diverse array of AI applications,” said Proscia Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Buchbinder. “By centralizing the review, analysis, and AI-driven interpretation on Proscia‘s Concentriq platform, Labcorp is streamlining the development and validation of companion diagnostics for its pharma sponsors.”
The news comes as many sponsors aim to cut screen-failure rates in trials that hinge on ever narrower molecular subtypes. By combining high-throughput tissue NGS, a rapid AML panel, expanded ctDNA liquid biopsy capabilities with Labcorp Plasma Focus now available in Geneva and Shanghai, and real-time digital slide review, Labcorp is positioning itself as a comprehensive partner for accelerating companion diagnostic development and streamlining precision-oncology trial enrollment.
Labcorp’s adoption of digital pathology systems is grounded in several years of foundational work. In 2018, Labcorp’s Covance division, which it acquired in 2014, established collaborations with companies like Philips and Definiens to integrate digital pathology and AI-based image analysis into clinical trial workflows. By June 2019, Labcorp had partnered with Mount Sinai Health System to establish the Mount Sinai Digital and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Pathology Center of Excellence.
A January 2025 article in Today’s Clinical Lab noted that Labcorp had installed “20 digital pathology scanners across 14 of its global sites” with the bulk of the equipment in use in its biopharma segment although its diagnostics division was “preparing to roll out digital pathology workflows. in the same article, LabCorp Chief Medical Officer Deborah Sesok-Pizzini highlighted the potential of tapping digital pathology in AI applications from aggregated digital slides.
“Biopharma is one of the fastest adopters of digital pathology, with 95% of top pharma companies estimated to have adopted digital pathology in some capacity by the end of 2023,” Buchbinder said, citing Proscia survey data. Yet “initial adoption has historically focused on discovery and preclinical work, with technical, operational, clinical, and regulatory challenges limiting its uptake in early and late stage clinical development,” Buchbinder said.
The Labcorp collaboration highlights a shifting dynamic, Buchbinder said. “Proscia now counts the two of the largest clinical development focused CROs as users of its Concentriq platform, and anticipates that the significant value that’s being demonstrated from digital and computational pathology in clinical trials and companion diagnostics will lead to significant expansion amongst new and existing biopharma users of digital pathology.”
Filed Under: clinical trials, machine learning and AI, Oncology
