NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Horizon Discovery announced today that it has entered an agreement with Roche Diagnostics to develop immunohistochemistry reference standards for oncology assays.
The company will develop and provide reference standard material for neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK) fusion biomarkers. Effective use of compounds against fusion proteins resulting from NTRK gene rearrangements depends on accurate genotyping of patients, Horizon noted in a statement, and this is typically done using immunohistochemistry.
The company will use gene editing to develop knock-ins of NTRK 1, 2, and 3 fusion cDNA under the control of multiple promoters to achieve low to high levels of protein expression in cell lines, and cells will be provided in a formalin-fixed paraffin embedded format to mimic patient samples.
The new agreement builds on a previous partnership with Roche subsidiary Ventana Medical Systems to develop, manufacture, and commercialize cell line derivative material for use as reference standards in cancer tissue diagnostics.
Horizon has established a number of partnerships recently with firms including Fulcrum Therapeutics, Sophia Genetics, and CareDx.