Merck Serono and Ventana to develop personalised cancer care solution

Merck Serono is to work with Ventana Medical Systems on the development of a companion diagnostic test for a new personalised cancer therapy.

Ventana proprietary diagnostic assays will be used to create a patient stratifying diagnostic tool for Merck Serono's individualised medicine strategy that can be used in multiple cancer indications.

This deal will see Merck Serono leverage Ventana's global leadership in cancer diagnostics and significant experience in creating companion tests to achieve new levels of diagnostic clarity for the investigated target.

Under the terms of the arrangement, Ventana will be tasked with developing and validating the test in accordance with regulatory guidelines.

Mara Aspinall, president and chief executive officer of Ventana Medical Systems, said: "We are very pleased to partner with Merck Serono to co-develop a CDx that will play a vital role in improving the quality of care for cancer patients."

This comes after Merck Serono formed an alliance with Sysmex Inostics to create a blood-based RAS biomarker test for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer last month.