Illumina Forms Diagnostics Pact With Big Pharma

Illumina has set up a partnership with three major pharmaceutical firms to develop a next-generation sequencing-based oncology test system for use in the partners’ clinical trials. The initial pharma partners are AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Janssen Biotech. The system will simultaneously sequence multiple cancer-related genes to match patients with targeted therapies. According to Illumina, 125 known genes that drive cancer growth have been discovered, and an estimated 800 oncology drugs, many of which target specific gene mutations, are in development. The overall goal is to gain regulatory approval and commercialize new therapies in combination with gene-panel-based companion diagnostics.