Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. will collaborate with MolecularMD to market a suite of comprehensive personalized medicine services to oncology researchers and drug developers, adding PGDx’s expertise in next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based cancer biomarker discovery to MolecularMD’s capabilities in the development, validation and global delivery of cancer companion diagnostics. The collaboration is designed to provide a unique specialized service to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, seamlessly spanning the entire spectrum of genomic and clinical trial services used in new drug R&D and clinical development. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will co-market each other’s services to their pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.PGDx provides advanced genome mapping services and analyses to oncology researchers, clinicians and patients. It employs cancer exome analysis, which enables comprehensive, reliable and unbiased genome-wide identification of cancer-related mutations. The company’s proprietary methods for genome sequencing and analysis are complemented by its deep expertise in cancer genomics.
MolecularMD provides molecular diagnostics products and services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug developers. Its capabilities range from specialty molecular testing services performed in its CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory to development of companion diagnostics that support new drug registrations. It also provides NGS services for clinical trials, including standard and custom-designed panels that can profile gene alterations relevant to therapeutic response or resistance.
“PGDx focuses on unbiased NGS-based approaches that are most relevant in the early stages of drug discovery and development, which complements MolecularMD’s capabilities in the development of companion diagnostics for specific cancer biomarkers. This collaboration will now enable the two companies to provide a complete spectrum of genomic services to drug developers,” said Antony Newton, chief commercial officer of PGDx. “We share a mission of applying advances in cancer genomics to accelerate new drug development and achieve improved patient outcomes, and we expect this agreement to benefit our customers and ultimately, cancer patients.”
“PGDx has unique capabilities that supplement the growing menu of advanced genomic services MolecularMD provides to oncology drug developers,” noted Glenn A. Miller, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of MolecularMD. “The combination of our distinctive sets of expertise and common commitment to translating progress in cancer genomics into high quality tools for drug developers and clinicians should make this a valuable collaboration.”
The scientific founders of PGDx, Luis Diaz, MD, and Victor Velculescu, MD, PhD, are internationally recognized leaders in cancer genomics at Johns Hopkins University and have extensive experience in the practical application of advanced genomic technologies to drug development and clinical practice.
Date: October 25, 2013
Source: Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc.
