Thermo Fisher Gets into Companion Diagnostic Collaboration with Janssen

Thermo Fisher Scientific has signed an agreement with Janssen Biotech to co-develop a companion diagnostic in the oncology space. Janssen Biotech is one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The pact calls for both firms to work together to validate multiple biomarkers for use with Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher’s Oncomine Dx Target Test, which will be used to identify variant-positive patients for enrollment into clinical trials focused on non-small cell lung cancer. Right now, the Oncomine assay contains 46 cancer-related biomarkers.

"The ability of the Oncomine Dx Target Test to rapidly detect variants of interest from very small quantities of DNA or RNA samples makes this technology ideally suited to support development programs requiring an NGS-based workflow that delivers actionable insights consistently," Peter Silvester, senior vice president and president of Life Sciences Solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said in a release. "We are confident that this approach to patient stratification helps expedite drug development initiatives which ultimately are designed to promote better health outcomes through targeted therapies."

Thermo Fisher’s collaboration comes at a time when the company is in the middle of acquiring Qiagen for $11.5 billion. News of the acquisition follows months of rumors that Thermo Fisher would make a move to pick up Venlo, Netherlands-based Qiagen.