NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (GenomeWeb News) - Celera Diagnostics said today that it has formed a research collaboration with Rosetta Inpharmatics, and its parent company Merck, to identify and validate genetic markers that can be used to develop tests and treatments for select cancers.
Under the arrangement, Celera Diagnostics will ahve access to certain Rosetta gene expression data and intellectual property. Merck will have access to certain research data from Celera Diagnostics that can be applied toward cancer drug development.
The partnership is initally focused on breast cancer, but may be expanded to include other malignancies. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Celera Diagnostics has accessed two large collections of tissue samples to support its ongoing disease association studies in breast cancer," Tom White, CSO of Celera Diagnostics, said in a statement. "We believe our studies, coupled with Merck's groundbreaking work, could lead to prognostic tests suitable for routine clinical practice, as well as the identification of novel drug targets for cancer treatment."