Quintiles and PGT ally on genomic testing services

Quintiles is entering into partnership with Population Genetics Technologies (PGT) to deliver new genomic testing services for pharmaceutical companies.

The agreement will allow Quintiles to use PGT's innovative large-scale testing solutions to test clinical hypotheses in drug development and collate data on the link between biomarkers of disease prognosis and drug responsiveness.

PGT's technology allows hundreds of genomes to be processed simultaneously in a single sequencing assay, making a once prohibitively expensive process far more convenient.

The partners will now be seeking to demonstrate the value of this approach to pharmaceutical companies and researchers, in the belief that it can help in the creation of safer and more effective medicines.

Dr Michael King Jolly, senior vice-president of Quintiles Innovation, said: "PGT's technology combined with Quintiles' global presence can bring the benefits of large-scale sequencing and analysis to virtually all biopharmaceutical companies."

Last month, the services provider announced that it will be offering funding to support I-SPY 2, an innovative new adaptive breast cancer trial programme that is also being financed by several healthcare firms.