Quest Diagnostics has entered into agreements with two California-based biotech companies to expand the use of their gene sequencing platforms in order to develop new molecular assays. Quest reached a multiyear deal with Life Technologies Corp. to use its Ion Torrent platform and expanded an existing agreement it reached last year with Illumina Inc. to use its MiSeq platform. Under the terms of the new agreement with Illumina, Quest expanded its rights to use MiSeq and will apply it in diagnostic assays involving cancers, neurology disorders, and women’s health. Quest also reserved the right to use the platform for biomarker detection in clinical trials performed for pharmacy, biotech, and other outside clients. Under the deal with Life Technologies, its platform will be used to develop assays in more than a dozen areas of medicine. “Investing in next-generation sequencing [NGS], which is increasingly used in several clinical areas as well as clinical trials, is a key element of our strategy. Illumina is a leader in NGS innovation, and this new broad agreement will give us a greater level of flexibility to build on our record of success in NGS to include several diseases where sequencing-based molecular testing can meaningfully improve clinical […]
Quest Diagnostics has entered into agreements with two California-based biotech companies to expand the use of their gene sequencing platforms in order to develop new molecular assays.
Quest reached a multiyear deal with Life Technologies Corp. to use its Ion Torrent platform and expanded an existing agreement it reached last year with Illumina Inc. to use its MiSeq platform.
Under the terms of the new agreement with Illumina, Quest expanded its rights to use MiSeq and will apply it in diagnostic assays involving cancers, neurology disorders, and women’s health. Quest also reserved the right to use the platform for biomarker detection in clinical trials performed for pharmacy, biotech, and other outside clients. Under the deal with Life Technologies, its platform will be used to develop assays in more than a dozen areas of medicine.
“Investing in next-generation sequencing [NGS], which is increasingly used in several clinical areas as well as clinical trials, is a key element of our strategy. Illumina is a leader in NGS innovation, and this new broad agreement will give us a greater level of flexibility to build on our record of success in NGS to include several diseases where sequencing-based molecular testing can meaningfully improve clinical care,” said Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., a Quest senior vice president.
Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
According to Zacks Research, the deals will be used to help Quest consolidate leadership in the esoteric market. “Quest Diagnostics will be in a position to develop innovative molecular tests and deliver results speedily and accurately. Management expects to gain momentum by focusing on diverse fields of treatment,” Zacks said in a recent report.
Both the Ion Torrent and MiSeq platforms fit on a desktop and have been positioned as high-speed, low-cost products. They have generated considerable demand because of their ability to perform the kind of genetic sequencing required to develop molecular assays.
Takeaway: Quest Diagnostics is willing to invest in extensive deals with biotech firms in order to ensure it has considerable resources in next-generation sequencing to be able to develop new assays.
