Qiagen and Astellas Pharma to develop companion diagnostics

Sample and assay technology company Qiagen has announced a collaboration agreement with Astellas Pharma, an R&D-driven pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, to develop and commercialise companion diagnostics paired with Astellas drugs for use in cancer and other diseases. The collaboration is Qiagen’s eighth framework agreement for developing companion diagnostics.

The agreement provides Astellas access to Qiagen’s development capabilities for assays based on PCR, NGS and multimodal testing technologies using liquid and tissue biopsies. Two initial projects in the collaboration focus on oncology and aim to pair Qiagen diagnostics with Astellas compounds in early-stage clinical trials: ASP5878, a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor; and ASP8273, an EGFR inhibitor.

“With the master agreement and the first two projects to be disclosed, Qiagen is further expanding its leadership in personalised medicine - including in Japan, one of the world’s largest markets for companion diagnostics,” said Qiagen CEO Peer M Schatz. “The master agreement provides Astellas and Qiagen flexibility and a strong foundation to add further development projects across other therapeutic areas, across analytical techniques and across a broad array of sampling options.”

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