NEW YORK – Molecular diagnostics company Oncocyte and hospital consortium Guardian Research Network (GRN said on Thursday that they've formed a strategic collaboration aimed at improving precision medicine clinical trials, with an initial focus on immuno-oncology.
The partners said they plan to create a comprehensive solution for pharmaceutical clients that will encompass everything from patient recruitment to regulatory approvals. GRN will contribute its clinical trial enrollment and data science technology while Oncocyte will add its proprietary molecular tests — including DetermaRx for early-stage lung cancer and DetermaIO for immunotherapy selection — as well as its pharma and companion diagnostic development services.
The collaboration is designed to reduce the time it takes to populate immune targeting trials while also improving chances for successful trials through proprietary molecular patient stratification, the partners said.
"Our alliance with GRN may help us to expand our pharma services offerings and increase DetermaIO's use in more clinical trials for immune therapy patient selection," Oncocyte President and CEO Ron Andrews said in a statement. "This collaboration with GRN enables us to help streamline clinical trial enrollment for pharmaceutical company sponsors and ideally positions us to provide comprehensive services needed by emerging biopharma companies that are developing new immune-oncology and targeted therapies."