New Alliance Turns Biopsy Waste into a Weapon Against Cancer

SALT LAKE CITY, UT & LA JOLLA, CA – February 17, 2026 – In a move poised to reshape cancer diagnostics, the Project Santa Fe Foundation and Virchow Medical have announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to transform discarded cellular material into a powerful resource for proactive patient care. The collaboration combines Virchow’s innovative biospecimen technology with the data analytics and ethical oversight of the foundation’s Clinical Lab 2.0 movement, aiming to unlock new insights from material that was previously considered medical waste.

This strategic alliance seeks to address one of the most persistent challenges in precision oncology: obtaining enough high-quality tumor tissue for comprehensive molecular testing. By salvaging and analyzing cells from used biopsy needles, the partners intend to build a vast data and biorepository asset that will power the development of next-generation, AI-driven diagnostics and accelerate the shift from a reactive to a predictive healthcare model.

The Gold in the Garbage: A New Source of Diagnostic Data

For many cancer patients, the journey to a targeted therapy begins with a biopsy. However, the small tissue samples obtained are often insufficient for the battery of tests required to identify the precise genetic drivers of their disease—a problem known as sample insufficiency. This can lead to diagnostic delays, repeat invasive procedures, and missed opportunities for life-saving precision medicine.

Virchow Medical, Inc. was founded to solve this very problem. The company has developed the Crow’s Nest® Biopsy Catchment System, a device that captures the cellular material left on a core needle biopsy instrument after the primary tissue sample has been secured. These cells, which would otherwise be discarded, are preserved as a Liquid Companion Specimen and stored in the Virchow Vault™, a novel biorepository.

“Virchow’s Crow’s Nest Biopsy Catchment System is an innovative and important tool because it creates a way to make routine something we could have been doing all along – making use of all the tumor cells from a core needle biopsy to reduce the incidence of sample insufficiency,” said James M. Crawford, MD, PhD, chair of the boards of the Project Santa Fe Foundation (PSFF) and its operational arm, the Diagnostic Medicine Consortium (DMC).

This approach effectively creates a second, high-quality liquid specimen from a single biopsy procedure without any additional risk or burden to the patient. This salvaged material is rich with the same molecular information as the core tissue, providing a vital resource for genomic sequencing and other advanced diagnostic tests. Early adoption has already begun, with institutions like Portneuf Medical Center implementing the technology to enhance their cancer care protocols.

Building the Engine for Proactive Medicine

The partnership elevates Virchow’s technology from a simple collection tool to a cornerstone of a much larger ambition: the Clinical Lab 2.0 movement. Championed by the PSFF, this movement aims to re-engineer the role of the clinical laboratory from a reactive, transactional service to a proactive driver of health outcomes. By leveraging longitudinal data and advanced analytics, the initiative seeks to predict disease, stratify risk, and guide interventions long before a patient becomes acutely ill.

“The Diagnostic Medicine Consortium embodies a steadfast commitment to innovation, early intervention, and prevention,” said Khosrow Shotorbani, CEO of Clinical Lab 2.0 and DMC. “By partnering with Virchow Medical, we leverage the power of longitudinal data. The two organizations together are poised to pave the way for a more integrated and effective healthcare system that enhances patient health outcomes.”

The DMC, co-founded by PSFF and the Association of Pathology Informatics, will integrate Virchow's data into its growing infrastructure. This will create a uniquely powerful, de-identified data resource that links Virchow's novel biospecimen data with existing clinical lab results, pathology images, and medical text, providing an unprecedentedly rich dataset for research and discovery.

The Critical Role of AI and Ethical Oversight

The ultimate goal of amassing this data is to train sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms. In the booming, multi-billion-dollar precision oncology market, AI is seen as the key to unlocking the next wave of diagnostic breakthroughs. However, the development of effective and unbiased AI is entirely dependent on the quality and diversity of the data used to train it. The partnership's dual-sourced dataset is designed to provide exactly that, augmenting training inputs to help identify new therapeutic targets and validate biomarkers.

Yet, the rise of AI in medicine is accompanied by significant regulatory and ethical hurdles. Concerns over algorithmic bias, data privacy, and the 'black box' nature of some machine learning models have prompted regulators like the FDA to develop new frameworks for oversight. This is where the DMC’s role becomes paramount.

The consortium will provide the essential “governance, stewardship, and ethical framework” for the clinical and scientific use of the Virchow Vault. This includes guiding the development of AI-driven diagnostics through the complex regulatory approval process and ensuring their responsible deployment in clinical settings.

“Proactive analytics are core to the missions of both the DMC and Virchow Medical,” said Alexander Arrow, MD, CEO of Virchow Medical, Inc. “We welcome the regulatory expertise that the DMC will bring to Virchow, as well as the improved service and expanded offering we will be able to offer to our customers as a result of this partnership, which ultimately, serves the purpose of reducing false negatives and improving cancer care.”

From Lab Bench to Patient Bedside

For patients and clinicians, the implications of this collaboration are profound. It promises to reduce the frustrating and often frightening uncertainty that comes with an insufficient biopsy, ensuring that more patients can benefit from the life-changing potential of precision medicine. By creating a more complete molecular picture for each patient, the initiative aims to get the right treatment to the right person, faster.

Furthermore, the partnership includes a significant educational component, with plans for training and outreach initiatives to disseminate knowledge about predictive analytics and best practices. The goal is to train a future generation of pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists in the concepts of diagnostic health, empowering them to maximize the value of every biological sample.

By uniting an innovative technology with a visionary framework for data utilization and ethical governance, this alliance represents a significant step forward. It aims to create a new standard in diagnostic medicine, where no data is wasted and every patient has the best possible chance for a positive outcome.