QIAGEN Unit And Pfizer Enter Into An Agreement To Develop A Companion Diagnostic For Brain Tumor Patients
Pfizer Inc. and DxS (a wholly owned subsidiary of QIAGEN N.V.) announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop a companion diagnostic test kit for PF-04948568 (CDX-110), an immunotherapy vaccine in development for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Financial terms of the diagnostic agreement have not been disclosed.
On April 16, 2008, Pfizer and Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. entered into an agreement to grant Pfizer an exclusive worldwide license to PF-04948568 (CDX-110) which is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of newly diagnosed GBM. Pfizer’s investigational drug PF-04948568 (CDX-110) is a peptide vaccine which targets the tumor-specific Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor variant III (EGFRvIII), a mutated form of the epidermal growth factor receptor that is only present in cancer cells and occurs in 25-40 percent of GBM tumors. The QIAGEN assay is designed to identify those patients whose tumors express the EGFRvIII mutation, allowing for the possibility of more targeted and personalized treatment.
The EGFRvIII companion diagnostic will be developed and manufactured at QIAGEN’s Center of Excellence for Companion Diagnostics in Manchester, UK. The diagnostic will be a real-time PCR assay used to detect EGFRvIII RNA in tumor tissue. The assay is designed to offer a simple workflow, which supports its clinical utility in routine mutation testing.
Other news from the department business & finance
