NEW YORK – Biodesix said this week that it has entered into a new master collaborative research agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under which investigators will collaborate on a development plan for diagnostic tests aimed at improving the treatment of cancer. The new deal expands on a previous sponsored research agreement between Biodesix and MSK. Bio-Rad is also participating by providing its digital PCR technology. The collaborators, represented by MSK oncologist Howard Scher and Biodesix's Gary Pestano, shared an update on their work at the Precision Medicine Tri-Conference this week.
BostonGene said this week that it will be a designated laboratory in the National Cancer Institute's ComboMATCH platform clinical trial, which is testing combinations of cancer drugs guided by tumor biology. Designated laboratories identify genetic alterations in tumor tissue from patients with advanced solid tumors to determine their eligibility for the trial and assign them to the correct trial arm. The company will apply its BostonGene Tumor Portrait whole-exome and RNA transcriptome sequencing test to support the trial.
Accelerate Diagnostics said this week that its fourth quarter revenues were flat year over year at $3.0 million. For Q4 2023, the firm reported a net loss of $13.0 million, or $.89 per share. Its R&D spending for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2023, was cut to $5.6 million from $6.0 million the year before, while its SG&A costs were lowered to $5.8 million from $8.8 million in Q4 of 2022. For full-year 2023, Accelerate posted net sales of $12.1 million, down 5 percent from $12.8 million in 2022. The company had a net loss of $61.6 million, or $4.94 per share, compared to a net loss of $62.5 million, or $7.61 per share, in 2022. Accelerate trimmed its R&D costs to $25.4 million from $26.9 million in 2022 and cut its SG&A costs to $31.2 million from $39.2 million. The company exited 2023 with $12.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.1 million in investments.
Gattaca Genomics said this week that fintech and banking services firm Ibanera will facilitate financial services and payments for Gattaca's genetic testing services under a new collaboration. Gattaca offers preimplantation genetic testing and whole-genome sequencing to individuals and couples.
T2 Biosystems said this week that it has extended a capital equipment supplier agreement with Vizient through March 31, 2025. Products covered by the deal include the T2Dx instrument, the T2Bacteria panel, and the T2Candida panel. Vizient members will continue to have broader exposure and contracted pricing for those three products, T2 Bio said.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.