Cancer Genetics will help analyze biomarkers to identify response patient populations, as well as reflect the mechanism of action of Effector's eFT508.
CSO Phil Stephens said the firm is finding specific genomic alterations that appear to affect sensitivity to immunotherapies, as it also advances overall mutation burden testing.
The firms will use the FoundationOne assay to characterize tumors and their microenvironment to find predictive measures of response to cancer immunotherapies.
Samples from metastatic melanoma patients treated sequentially with immunotherapies targeting CTLA4 and PD-1 pointed to response-related tumor features.
The company signed separate agreements with AstraZeneca, Merck, Merck KGaA, and Pfizer to create the panel, which is expected to help speed drug development.
