Bayer & QIAGEN Partner on Cancer Companion Dx
QIAGEN and Bayer HealthCare recently announced a collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of companion diagnostics paired with novel Bayer HealthCare drugs, initially to enhance the treatment of various solid tumors. Companion diagnostics are tests that unlock molecular information from each patient’s tumor genome to guide treatment decisions with medications for cancers or other diseases. The parties will also collaborate on the development of novel technologies for patient profiling that may result in innovative research-use-only products for exploratory and translational medicine. Financial details were not disclosed.
The targeted companion diagnostics will be designed to run on the QIAsymphony family of automated instruments, which is transforming laboratory workflows and helping disseminate standardized, regulator-approved diagnostics.
“We are very pleased to partner with Bayer HealthCare in developing companion diagnostics to improve life for cancer patients. As healthcare providers increasingly select the right drugs based on each individual’s genomic information, the treatment of cancer is undergoing a revolution,” said Dr. Helge Lubenow, Senior Vice President Molecular Diagnostics Business Area and Member of the Executive Committee of QIAGEN. “The first collaborations for Bayer HealthCare and QIAGEN include companion diagnostics based on the identification of patients who may respond to therapies in clinically unmet disease classifications. Our agreement also lays the groundwork for a strong partnership in creating future companion diagnostics both inside and outside of oncology.”
“Partnering with QIAGEN on companion diagnostics will help Bayer HealthCare to develop innovative therapies, enabling physicians to analyze DNA and proteins from each patient. This helps to design more efficient clinical trials and to increase the overall probability of therapeutic success for patients suffering from cancer,” said Prof. Dr. Andreas Busch, Head of Global Drug Discovery and Member of the Executive Committee of Bayer HealthCare.
QIAGEN is a leading partner globally in developing and validating companion diagnostics to guide the selection of medicines in treating cancer and other diseases. In July 2012, QIAGEN received FDA approval for the therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit as a companion diagnostic in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. For more information, visit www.qiagen.com.
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