NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Imaging company Definiens and the cancer treatment technology company Clarient have agreed to co-develop tools for evaluating cancer biomarkers, Clarient said today.
Under the terms of the five-year agreement, the companies will develop a series of image analysis tools that Clarient will use in its internal research programs and will also offer through its PathSite customer web portal.
The analysis tools will evaluate quantitative biomarkers that predict cancer treatment response to targeted therapies, the companies said.
Clarient processes tissue samples for biomarkers for clinical use and for biopharmaceutical development, and then converts these into high-resolution digital images that are managed and analyzed with the PathSite web portal.
Clarient Chief Medical Officer Ken Bloom said that image analysis tools are “essential” to personalized medicine. “Many of the assays in development assess several intracellular processes simultaneously, and it is critical we develop algorithms that localize and quantify key markers,” he explained.
"The partnership with Clarient will allow us to access the clinical marketplace, allowing both companies to commercialize translational medicine applications,” said Gregg Westerbeck, Definiens VP, in a statement.