Roche and Foundation Medicine announce cancer collaboration

Roche has announced a new collaboration deal with Foundation Medicine, also known as FMI, in the field of molecular information in oncology.

The partnership will includes a broad research and development collaboration that will see Roche provide funding to help accelerate FMI's new product development initiatives, optimise treatments for oncology patients, and improve the design and understanding of clinical trials based on molecular information.

Moreover, Roche will acquire a majority interest of 56.3 percent in FMI and will gain a presence on the company's board, although it will remain operationally independent under the continued leadership of chief executive Michael Pellini.

The use of molecular information and genomic analysis to drive the development of personalised cancer treatments is an emerging field of research that is a core area of focus for both companies.

Daniel O'Day, chief operating officer of Roche Pharma, said: "We are very pleased to enter into this collaboration with FMI, which has the potential to improve both the development of medicines and patient care."

This comes after the company agreed a deal to acquire Ariosa Diagnostics last month, allowing it to enter the non-invasive prenatal test and cell-free DNA testing services markets for the first time.