NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Bayer and Leica Biosystems said today they will collaborate on the development of a companion diagnostic that employs immunohistochemistry and RNAscope, a multiplex nucleic acid hybridization technology, to test cancer tissue.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Under the terms of the deal, Leica will provide expertise in assay development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of companion diagnostic tests for targeted anticancer therapies developed by Bayer.
Leica Vice President of Pharma Partnerships Jonathan Roy said that the agreement with Bayer will help to expand the firm's menu of companion diagnostic tests based on its BOND technology — an automated IHC/ISH staining platform — and that the collaboration supports its mission of advancing cancer diagnostics.
Leica has a collaboration to automate Advanced Cell Diagnostics' RNAscope on the BOND platform.
“This represents another important step for Bayer towards a more personalized approach in the fight against cancer,” Bayer AG's Head of Drug Discovery Andreas Busch said in a statement.
Bayer has established partnerships with several external partners that specialize in the development of companion diagnostic tests based on blood or tissue samples.
The firm said that early screening for patient-specific tumor markers will help in the design of more efficient clinical trials and "eventually increase the probability of therapeutic success for patients suffering from cancer."