Collaboration Speeds Commercialisation in Personalised Medicine

A non-exclusive master collaboration agreement between Qiagen and SRL Inc, the largest clinical testing laboratory company in Japan, will accelerate implementation of companion diagnostic workflows following approval of the drugs and tests by Japan’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). Several tests are expected to enter registration in Japan in the coming years.

Qiagen’s Day-One Lab Readiness initiative with SRL includes strategic planning for market access to companion diagnostics, filing for reimbursement and alignment of medical communication by the two companies and pharmaceutical partners. The agreement will cover a range of Qiagen companion diagnostics, including real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions for Personalised Healthcare. Initial projects involve new drugs under development in Japan for solid tumours and leukemia.

“We are pleased to create this innovative program with SRL to close the time gap between new drug approvals and the availability of testing with companion diagnostics. Rapid implementation of personalised medicine solutions can benefit patients in many disease states, including cancer, with treatments guided by personalised genomic insights,” said Thierry Bernard, Senior Vice President, Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area at Qiagen NV.

Shunichi Higashi, President and Chief Executive Officer of SRL, said: “We are excited to partner with QIAGEN to provide new companion diagnostic tests to patients who have urgent need for testing. Through QIAGEN´s numerous companion diagnostic development and commercial collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, we expect a significant increase in commercial testing requests in the upcoming years. Working with QIAGEN will help us to meet these future testing requests in the most timely way for the benefit of patients and healthcare providers in Japan.”