AstraZeneca agrees genomic profiling deal with Foundation Medicine

AstraZeneca and Foundation Medicine are embarking on a new collaboration that aims to further the development of personalised cancer therapies.

The genomic profiling collaboration will involve the identification of alterations found in cancer-related tumour genes that may predict a person's response or resistance to targeted medicines.

Under the terms of the deal, Foundation Medicine will receive the right of first negotiation for the development of potential diagnostic products to accompany potential AstraZeneca therapies arising from this alliance.

The joint research could take advantage of Foundation Medicine's FoundationOne product, a genomic profiling system that identifies a patient's individual molecular alterations and matches them with relevant targeted therapies and clinical trials.

Dr Michael Pellini, president and chief executive officer of Foundation Medicine, said: "We are helping companies like AstraZeneca achieve deeper insight into their programmes and trials with our unique cancer expertise and our ability to provide genomic information that can impact clinical treatment decisions."

Earlier this month, AstraZeneca published data from a recent study showing how biomarker analysis could enhance the treatment of non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome.