AstraZeneca and Illumina to ally to create companion cancer diagnostics

AstraZeneca and Illumina have announced a new alliance that will accelerate the development of companion diagnostic tests for cancer therapies.

The deal will see Illumina develop its next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform to produce diagnostic tests applicable across AstraZeneca's oncology portfolio. An initial project has already been selected and will be one of the first ever NGS-based companion diagnostic tests for a novel drug.

Illumina's NGS technology allows rapid sequencing of multiple genes to be carried out much faster and cheaper than using traditional DNA sequencing methods, with panels of several gene sequences scanned for all possible genetic variants at the same time.

Information obtained from sequencing these full genes can then be used to predict which patients will respond best to certain treatments.

Ruth March, vice-president for personalised healthcare and biomarkers at AstraZeneca, said: "Our aim is for doctors to be able to use these tests to prescribe the right medicines for the right patients – bringing benefits to healthcare professionals, payers and patients alike."

This is the third personalised medicine collaboration to be signed by AstraZeneca in recent weeks, following previous deals with Roche and Qiagen.