Foundation Medicine said this week that is has inked a strategic collaboration with Sanofi for cancer biomarkers.
Under the agreement, the Cambridge, Mass.-based company will use its genomic sequencing and analysis expertise to identify genetic biomarkers and potential companion diagnostics for certain oncology drug candidates from Sanofi.
The partnership with Sanofi adds to four other collaborations Foundation has established with pharmaceutical firms, including Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Novartis, and Celgene.
In addition to these alliances, Foundation Medicine is working on a diagnostic cancer genomic test, which uses next-generation sequencing to analyze about 200 cancer-related genes in clinical-grade tumor tissues (CSN 6/8/2011).
Last fall, the company raised $33.5 million in a Series A financing round to support the commercialization of the test, which it plans to launch in the second quarter of this year.