Seegene said today that it has partnered with Korea's Samsung Medical Center to co-develop molecular diagnostics for cancer.
Under the partnership, Seegene will contribute its dual-priming oligonucleotide, or DPO, PCR and real amplicon detection, or READ, PCR, technologies to develop tests for genetic mutations indicative of certain cancers.
Seegene will also incorporate its technologies into tests for drug resistance and single nucleotide polymorphism detection.
Meantime, Samsung Medical Center, based in Seoul, will provide clinical and disease pathology expertise, as well as the first test sites for the new assays, Seegene said.
The partners will initially develop tests for non-small-cell lung cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, and cholangiocarcinoma.
Seegene said that the goal is to have oncologists use the new molecular diagnostic tests to determine the genomic profiles of patients' tumors to understand if they are likely to respond to cancer therapies such as tamoxifen or chemotherapy, or if the cancer will return or metastasize.
With offices in Seoul and Rockville, Md., Seegene is developing a portfolio of diagnostic tests based on READ PCR and DPO technology. The company claims that when used together, the methods are 400 percent faster and 10- to 100-fold more specific and sensitive for pathogen detection than probe- and primer-based real-time PCR technologies.
Samsung Medical Center was founded in 1994 to provide medical services and advanced medical research. It currently comprises 40 departments, eight special centers, and more than 110 special clinics.