IMDx, Cambridge, Mass, has entered into a multiyear development and license agreement with QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany, to design, develop, and manufacture several undisclosed FDA-cleared and CE-marked diagnostic tests for use on QIAGEN’s flagship QIAsymphony RGQ automated platform.
The assays are planned to be incorporated into QIAGEN’s growing menu of molecular diagnostic assays and will be distributed by QIAGEN worldwide.
“This collaboration will help us to accelerate the expansion of our test menu for the QIAsymphony RGQ,” says Dirk Zimmermann, PhD, vice president, head of development, Molecular Diagnostics, Europe and Asia, QIAGEN “We are currently developing a range of new tests for use on this platform, expanding beyond the already extensive range of tests covering profiling diagnostics as well as prevention/screening assays for a wide array of diseases.
“In addition, QIAsymphony is also our core platform for our assays in the area of companion diagnostics to guide treatment decisions,” he adds.
IMDx’s assay development process relies on the use of a proprietary bioinformatics platform, which allows for diagnostics that can be formatted for a variety of real-time PCR platforms.
QIAsymphony is a laboratory workflow automation system for molecular testing that incorporates all workflow steps from biological sample to result. It is comprised of modules that can be used either as stand-alone systems or combined into the fully integrated QIAsymphony RGQ system.
QIAGEN is developing a broad range of tests for use on this system, with a menu that includes infectious disease assays, genetics assays, and in particular, companion diagnostics (CDx) that are used to guide the use of medicines in treating patients.
QIAGEN has also retained the rights to assume manufacturing of the assays pursuant to volume considerations.
Financial terms have not been disclosed.
[Source: IMDx]
