NEW YORK (360Dx) – Quest Diagnostics announced today that it has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to offer the company's next-generation sequencing-based companion diagnostic panel for non-small cell lung cancer.
Thermo Fisher's Oncomine Dx Target Test can be used as a companion diagnostic for AstraZeneca's EGFR inhibitor Iressa (gefitinib), Pfizer's ALK and ROS1 inhibitor Xalkori (crizotinib), and the combination of Novartis' MEK inhibitor Mekinist (trametinib) and RAF inhibitor Tafinlar (dabrafenib). The panel gauges alterations in 23 genes in total. The test report not only indicates whether patients have ROS1, EGFR, and BRAF alterations linked to the three FDA-approved treatments, but also the presence or absence of variants in other genes.
Through the partnership, Quest will also have early access to Thermo Fisher's pipeline of novel platforms and assays to assist with development of Oncomine-branded solutions for clinical and biopharma applications, Quest said.
The Oncomine Dx Target Test was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June. Thermo Fisher has said that it hopes to rapidly expand the indications for the panel to new drug/biomarker combinations as well as to new cancer types.
In October, Thermo Fisher announced it had inked a companion diagnostic deal with Blueprint Medicines to use the diagnostic panel to develop and commercialize a companion diagnostic for Blueprint's BLU-667 to identify RET fusions in non-small cell lung center patients.
Quest will perform the Oncomine Dx Target Test at its oncology center of excellence, based at the Med Fusion site in Lewisville, Texas. From this center, Quest provides evidence-based next-generation sequencing services with an emphasis on serving community oncologists, who provide the majority of cancer care in the United States.
The panel is also offered by Laboratory Corporation of America's Diagnostics and Covance businesses, NeoGeonomics Laboratories, and Cancer Genetics.