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Two
new partners for Life
November 2012
EDIT CONNECT
SHARING OPTIONS:
CARLSBAD, Calif.—Life Technologies Corp. has entered into a
master development
agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for current
and
future companion diagnostics projects. The agreement represents another step in
Life Technologies' strategy to develop its diagnostic business
through internal
development, partnerships and selective acquisitions. The agreement covers an
initial project for oncology and provides for a long-
term partnership across a
potentially broad range of Life Technologies' instrument platforms and a wide
range of as yet unnamed therapeutic areas.
Life Technologies' metamorphosis began with two earlier
steps—the acquisition of two genetic
testing companies that gave Life
Technologies a CLIA lab for expanding into the medical services business, and a
portal that provided a physician-
mediated network. Next up was the acquisition
of Pinpoint Genomics and its early-stage non-small cell lung cancer test that
can help
doctors identify those early-stage patients at high risk for
progression to late-stage disease. The Pervenio Lung RS molecular test has been
documented
to reliably identify early-stage lung cancer patients who are at
high risk for mortality following surgery.
"Many lung cancer patients who are initially diagnosed with
early-stage disease are dying from recurrences without having
received any
early post-operative intervention," says Dr. Michael Mann, associate professor
of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, who
co-developed the test with Dr. David Jablons,
chief of general thoracic surgery
at the university.
"The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly
turning its
focus to discovering and delivering targeted, personalized medications," says
Ronnie Andrews, president of medical sciences at Life
Technologies. "As more
and more targeted drugs come onto the market in the next decade, there will be
a growing need for diagnostics that can help
predict which patients will
benefit from which drugs."
For oncology alone, hundreds of agents
are currently in
clinical trials," Andrews notes, "and we see strong market opportunity in the
robust expansion this will mean for the companion
diagnostics space."
Life Technologies is uniquely positioned to provide pharma a
flexible, cost-
effective means to manage the evolution of the companion
diagnostic assay through the drug development process, he adds.
A second multiyear partnership agreement will pair
CollabRx's interpretive analytics with Life Technologies' cancer panels to be
used in conjunction with its global
cancer diagnostics development and its
laboratory-developed test services business. The agreement represents a major
step forward by CollabRx in
providing laboratories and next-generation
sequencing companies with meaningful insights into cancer.
"Molecular
analysis,
including genetic sequencing, is increasingly becoming an important part of the
clinical management of cancer patients," says James Karis,
co-CEO of CollabRx.
"However, the sheer volume and complexity of genetic data
that is being produced, particularly in the
course of therapy development, is outpacing
the ability of practicing physicians to stay current and, more importantly,
understand how to apply this
genetic data in treating their patients."
Life Technologies will use CollabRx's content and technology
to pair the results of broad molecular profiling panels it develops with
associated clinically relevant and dynamically updated knowledge on clinical
trials, drugs, biologics and other information relevant for cancer treatment
planning. This knowledge is supported by CollabRx's large and growing
network
of over 50 leading clinical practitioners in the United States. While CollabRx
and its advisors do not provide specific treatment
recommendations, this
clinically relevant knowledge is a key part of the "context engine" for
informing healthcare decision-making.
"It's critical to contextualize the results of complex
cancer panels to make them useful for physicians," says
Andrews. "CollabRx has
pioneered the development of a scalable platform and process to provide
actionable, accessible and credible knowledge at the
point of care to aid
physicians in developing a cancer treatment plan based on tumor molecular
profiles. We are excited to include this key capability
with our molecular
diagnostic tests."
Life Tech, VelaDx to develop in-
vitro Dx tests
CARLSBAD, Calif.—Life Technologies Corp. and VelaDx have
entered into a license and supply agreement that will give VelaDx
rights to
develop and market next-generation sequencing-based, in-vitro diagnostic tests on the Ion Personal Genome Machine
(PGM) platform.
VelaDx will seek approvals from global regulatory authorities
for clinical diagnostic tests in oncology and infectious disease.
According to the companies' announcement, Vela chose the Ion
PGM System because of its speed, simplicity and
flexibility, and because it is
complementary to Vela's Sentosa workflow and its menu of qPCR assay kits. Both
Ion's PGM and Vela's Sentosa systems
can operate on a menu of single-indication
tests or multiple-indication panels that can easily be implemented in virtually
any laboratory. A seamless,
bidirectional data communication with laboratory
information systems between the Ion PGM and Sentosa systems will maintain the
accuracy of data and
improve the efficiency of the laboratory workflow, the
companies say. Code: E111214 Back |
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