Boehringer Ingelheim and Ventana to ally on oncology tests

Boehringer Ingelheim is to collaborate with Ventana Medical Systems on the development of companion diagnostic tests for new cancer drugs.

The agreement will see Ventana utilise its immunohistochemistry technology platform to develop tests to accompany chosen Boehringer Ingelheim oncology programmes, thereby supporting its personalised medicine healthcare strategies for cancer drug development.

Companion diagnostic tests help physicians to choose targeted treatments for their patients based on the expected best response to therapy, resulting in treatment approaches with optimised benefit/risk profiles.

The new alliance will take advantage of Ventana's experience and expertise in companion diagnostic development and premarket approval submissions.

Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice-president for medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "We look forward to partnering with Ventana and accessing their significant capabilities and expertise in developing companion diagnostics that will complement our products to further advance the delivery of personalised healthcare solutions for patients."

Later this month, Boehringer Ingelheim and its strategic partner Lilly will be attending the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting, where they will present the latest findings from their collaborative drug development programmes.