NEW YORK – Inivata said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Agendia to commercialize Inivata's liquid biopsy assay for minimal residual disease detection in breast cancer.
As part of the agreement, Agendia will receive co-exclusive rights to distribute Inivata's RaDaR liquid biopsy assay for MRD detection and early detection of relapse in breast cancer in North America and Europe. Agendia will also have the option to extend the deal to cover additional territories in the future.
Inivata's RaDaR assay, which runs on the firm's InVision platform, identifies up to 48 tumor-specific variants in a patient's tumor and blood sample. After the platform is used to sequence and compare variants between a tumor and blood sample, a patient-specific panel can then be designed.
The firm aims to have the assay reimbursed and available to clinicians in the US in 2022.
"We believe that the use of highly sensitive liquid approaches to detect MRD has the potential to transform cancer care by providing clinicians with timely, accurate information about whether the disease may have recurred, allowing a window for intervention and the prospect of better outcomes," Clive Morris, CEO of Inivata, said in a statement.
Financial and commercial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Agendia believes that the RaDaR assay — in tandem with its MammaPrint and BluePrint assays — will help physicians triage pre- and post-operative care for breast cancer patients while monitoring for early indicators of relapse.
"The partnership with Inivata is a natural progression for Agendia to guide breast cancer care from diagnosis to surgery, treatment to monitoring and beyond, to ensure timely information to manage care," Mark Straley, CEO of Agendia, said in a statement. "RaDaR will add to our leading market position in breast cancer with a repeat testing model, and give us the opportunity to provide a comprehensive offering for patients at every stage of their journey."
Inivata previously raised $35 million in a Series C financing round in February to continue clinical development and rollout of the RaDaR assay.