Dive Brief:
- Diagnostics and instruments company Agilent struck a partnership with drugmaker Incyte to develop companion diagnostics.
- Companion diagnostics are used to identify patients that are likely to benefit from treatment with targeted therapeutics. The companies will focus on tests to support Incyte’s hematology and oncology portfolio.
- The agreement, announced Tuesday, would add to Agilent’s existing portfolio of companion diagnostics, providing a new source of income amid a slowing market for testing.
Dive Insight:
Agilent’s diagnostics and genomics business brought in $1.41 billion in sales last year, a slight increase compared with 2022. The Santa Clara, California-based company also laid off about 400 employees, or 2% of its workforce, as part of a cost-cutting effort last month.
Agilent didn’t disclose the terms of its agreement with Incyte. Their goal is to reach clinical trials, and the potential registration and commercialization of companion diagnostics in the U.S. and Europe.
“Agilent’s expertise in the development of companion diagnostics is impressive, as is their regulatory and commercialization record. We are excited about the collaboration and look forward to working together to innovate in support of patients,” Jeff Jackson, Incyte’s group vice president of translational medicine, said in a statement.
The partnership would build on other diagnostics Agilent has developed for targeted cancer treatments. For example, the company received approval in 1998 for HercepTest, a tool to assess HER2 expression in breast cancer. The company has also developed an assay for PD-L1 expression in cancer patients being considered for treatment with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda.