Qiagen signs agreement with Astellas Pharma to develop companion diagnostics

29 October 2014

Netherlands-based company Qiagen (Nasdaq: QGEN) has announced a master collaboration agreement with Japanese drug major Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503). Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

The collaboration hopes to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics paired with Astellas drugs for use in cancer and other diseases. It gives Astellas access to Qiagen’s development capabilities for assays based on PCR, NGS and multi-modal testing technologies using liquid and tissue biopsies.

Two initial projects in the collaboration focus on oncology and specifically Astellas compounds in early-stage clinical trials: ASP5878, a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor, and ASP8273, an EGFR inhibitor.

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