NEW YORK – Singapore-based Lucence Diagnostics and China's MEDx (Suzhou) Translational Medicine announced on Wednesday a strategic partnership aimed at cancer in China.
Under the agreement, the firms will codevelop companion diagnostic tests for PD-L1 rearrangement to be used with anti-PD1/PD-L1 cancer immunotherapies. Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Immunotherapy is becoming more and more popular for drug development and personalized medicine in China," Nick Zhang, MEDx chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "We believe through this strategic partnership with Lucence, we will achieve better outcomes for cancer diagnosis and treatment selection for cancer patients."
Lucence's proprietary technology platform identifies PD-L1 rearrangement, while its multiplex immunofluorescence technology enables the prediction of anti-PD1/PD-L1 treatment outcomes. MEDx leverages high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics for biomarker discovery and the development of cancer molecular diagnostics, they said.
Lucence offers genomic testing services through its CLIA-certified laboratory. It has previously partnered with the Singapore subsidiary of Beijing-based Novogene to develop NGS-based tests for precision cancer care for the Asian market.
MEDx is a translational research center focused on diagnostics and is the product of a Qiagen joint venture with BioBay.