Philips and Janssen to partner on new handheld blood test

Philips is to collaborate with Janssen on the creation of a new handheld blood test for patients with neuropsychiatric  disorders.

The two companies announced the partnership last week (March 26th), entering into a multi-year development agreement under which Philips will manufacture the device and Janssen will provide clinical testing, as well as commercialisation of the end product.

Philips' Minicare I-20 system for immunoassays, which comprises a handheld analyser, dedicated software  and single-use cartridges, will be used as the basis for the new device.

Commenting on the announcement, Philips' chief executive Frans van Houten called better care for patients with neuropsychiatric disorders a "key driver" to improve patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs.

"The collaboration with Janssen is a great example of our open innovation business model, combining their strength in neuroscience with the biosensor technology in our Minicare I-20 platform," he continued.

This comes soon after Philips entered a joint-development agreement with the Mount Sinai Health System in New York to create a new digital image repository of patient tissue samples.

The database will be used to pursue the discovery of new tissue-based tests in order to improve care for complex diseases, including cancer.