Alcami announced its $15,000 donation to the Wilmington, North Carolina Fire Department (WFD) to help fund IvyGene cancer screenings for firefighters. Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, Mayor Pro-tem Margaret Haynes, Deputy Fire Chief Jon S. Mason, and other prominent city officials accepted the donation at a commemorative event Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Alcami's Wilmington state-of-the-art advanced laboratory services and oral solid dose formulation and manufacturing facilities.
"Alcami is privileged to partner with the Wilmington Fire Department and City of Wilmington to provide our firefighters with vital cancer testing kits," said Alcami Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman, Dr. Stephan Kutzer. "We are extremely grateful for the Wilmington Fire Department's exceptional service and commitment to the protection of our community, and are proud this contribution will benefit so many, in such a profound way."
The Wilmington Fire Department consists of over 200 professional firefighters and personnel. Its 10 fire stations are placed throughout the city to ensure rapid response to fire and emergency medical calls.
Due to the daily risks they are exposed to, firefighters face higher rates of cancer diagnosis and experience greater cancer-related mortality rates than the general population. Fire departments across the United States are adopting the IvyGene blood test, which uses advanced DNA sequencing methods to confirm the presence of cancer and give quantitative data about disease presence. The IvyGene test is owned by Laboratory for Advanced Medicine (LAM), a biotechnology laboratory specializing in the early diagnosis and intervention of cancers.