Transgene in companion diagnostic deal with Beckman to select patients for TG4010

6 January 2011

French biotech firm Transgene (Euronext: TNG) yesterday signed an agreement with USA-based Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC), under which the latter will develop for Transgene a companion test that measures the level of activated Natural Killer (aNK) cells in order to select patients to be treated with TG4010.

TG4010 was licensed to Swiss drug major Novartis last year, in a deal that earned Transgene $10 million upfront and a possible $1 billion with milestones (The Pharma Letter March 11, 2010).

The companion test will measure triple positive (CD16+, CD56+, CD69+/CD45+ lymphocytes) activated NK cells (the aNK Test). It will come in addition to a test developed by Ventana Medical System that allows Transgene to identify patients with MUC1 positive tumor cells (the MUC1 Test).

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