Thermo Fisher Scientific to ally with GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer on cancer diagnostics

Thermo Fisher Scientific is to develop a universal next-generation sequencing oncology test for solid tumours in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

Serving as a companion diagnostic for multiple drug programmes, the test will be developed using Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Personal Genome Machine Dx Platform, Ion AmpliSeq technology and content from the Oncomine Cancer Research Panel.

This will allow hundreds of genes to be simultaneously analysed from tumour samples via next-generation sequencing, with high reproducibility and rapid turnaround time.

The development of this new test will include markers from the Oncomine Cancer Research panel, which enables simultaneous testing of single nucleotide variants, copy number variants, gene fusions and indels across 143 unique cancer genes.

Dan Rhodes, head of oncology for life science solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said: "This approach will help ensure that cancer patients have an opportunity to potentially benefit from a targeted therapy associated with their tumor’s genetic profile."

This follows the recent launch of the company's TSQ Duo triple quadrupole GC-MS/MS system, which supports single and triple quadrupole methods on a single platform.