10x Genomics Becomes First One Medical Customer to Deploy Cohort-Based COVID-19 Employee Testing

10x Genomics and One Medical announced the two organizations are partnering to develop a path toward the safe return to work by deploying a comprehensive approach to COVID-19 testing, digital employee symptom screening, and access to remote and in-person care. 10x Genomics is the first of One Medical’s more than 7,000 employer customers to begin executing a multi-pronged, cohort-based return to the workplace strategy. 10x Genomics added One Medical as a new healthcare benefit for its employees and began offering voluntary SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests to monitor for possible infection. As a part of the testing program, 10x Genomics has also teamed up with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, a non-profit medical institute working on COVID-19, for clinical testing of nasal swabs.

10x Genomics has more than 50 academic labs, research institutes and pharmaceutical companies around the world using its products to make discoveries to accelerate the development of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines for battling COVID-19. These include the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, where researchers are fast-tracking the development of antibody-based prophylaxis to protect people, particularly first responders and essential workers, who are at greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19; Merck, which is working on identifying new viral targets for potential COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines; and multiple labs around the world conducting research into cellular mechanisms and immune responses to infection, and other aspects of COVID-19.

To continue delivering its essential products and services, 10x Genomics partnered with One Medical to deploy its workplace reentry program, Healthy Together, to quickly operationalize an open-air testing site for COVID-19 PCR nasal swab collection tests at its Pleasanton headquarters. The nasal swab tests are sent to TGen’s COVID-19 clinical laboratory for analysis. 10x Genomics already has over 150 employees from its R&D, manufacturing and IT groups enlisted in the program that are being regularly tested in cohorts. 10x Genomics plans to expand the program to cover more than 65 percent of its employee base.

“The pandemic has forced us to be innovative and to forge new paths to navigate the complexities of the new workplace. We believe cohort-based testing is a powerful way, along with other recommended practices, to ensure the safety of employees,” said Ben Hindson, 10x Genomics Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer.  “In One Medical, we have a partner that shared our dedication to employee health, applied a methodical science-based approach to workplace reentry and moved rapidly to operationalize the effort.”

“10x Genomics is paving the way and modeling the behavior many employers should look to deploy in their organizations. By understanding the importance of broad COVID-19 testing among its employee base, they are showing that cohort-based reentry programs can work well when individuals are armed with necessary information about their COVID-19 status and are willing to use that information to support their employer’s risk mitigation efforts,” said Raj Behal, MD, MPH, One Medical Chief Quality Officer.