Non-small cell lung cancer patients with EGFR mutations now have three treatment choices, and AstraZeneca is working on newer personalized treatment options.
Poor patient health, tumor histology, insufficient tissue samples, and long turnaround times are some reasons doctors gave for not using EGFR status to determine care.
The results also suggest the cfDNA assay has high sensitivity and 100 percent specificity, comparable to other technologies being developed for liquid biopsy testing.
Clovis hopes Sysmex's BEAMing test will work better than FFPE tests to identify candidates for treatment with rociletinib, its investigational EGFR inhibitor.
The investment bank said that expected launches within the next two years for quantitative assays would bring Trovagene into larger and more profitable markets.
The clinical collaboration will evaluate Trovagene's technology in clinical studies for detecting genetic mutations associated with targeted drug resistance.
As AstraZeneca takes steps to reintroduce the EGFR-targeted NSCLC drug in the US, Qiagen will develop a tissue-based molecular CDx to accompany the launch.
The scientific organizations are revisiting the topic of molecular testing for lung cancer patients just a year and a half after releasing the initial guidelines.
