NEW YORK – Ayala Pharmaceuticals and ArcherDx said today they will work together to develop companion diagnostics that can gauge whether cancer patients have Notch-activating genetic mutations and fusions and will respond to certain targeted drugs.
Within the collaboration, Boulder, Colorado-based ArcherDx will provide companion diagnostic solutions to identify best responders to Notch inhibitors that Wilmington, Delaware-based Ayala is developing. For example, the precision cancer drug developer is currently advancing the investigational therapeutic AL101 through Phase II trials as a treatment for adenoid cystic carcinoma characterized by Notch-activating mutations.
ArcherDx, meanwhile, has been looking to expand its CDx footprint. In May, the company raised $60 million in a Series B financing round that it said would go toward scaling its companion diagnostics operations.