Quintiles, London Genetics ink personalised medicine deal

The firms will offer biopharma and assay development services, presenting advice to biopharma companies on developing pharmacogenetics, as well as providing contracted pharmacogenetics solutions to help customers access additional resources and speed the delivery of targeted treatments.

Under the non-exclusive agreement, Quintiles will continue developing biomarker tests in labs in the US, Scotland and China, which analyse genes and proteins that affect cell growth and mutation. Meanwhile, London Genetics will liaise with London, UK-based experts in genetics research to help biopharma companies design and manage projects and enable access to patient cohorts.

“London Genetics’ expertise in pharmacogenetic strategy development combined with Quintiles’ expertise and infrastructure in biomarker development gives biopharma companies a powerful ally in harnessing the value of genomic data for drug development,”​ a spokesperson for Quintiles told Outsourcing-Pharma.

The companies said the collaboration will allow them to better support biopharma companies located “virtually anywhere in the world​” by using genomic technologies to produce personalised medicine and subsequently improve drug discovery and development.

Thomas Wollman, senior vice president, Quintiles Global Central Laboratories believes “Personalised medicine has developed out of the realisation that patients with the same diseases respond differently to drugs based on their genetic make-up.​

Understanding a disease​

“Understanding what drives the disease and what drug can benefit it is particularly important,”​ he said, highlighting that Quintiles and London Genetics hope to help biopharma firms widen this understanding.

Describing how biopharma companies in the New Health landscape are facing increasing pressure to boost product pipelines and deliver safer, more effective medicines to patients, Quintiles claim “all biopharmaceutical companies stand to benefit from the Quintiles/London Genetics alliance,”​

The partnership will provide biopharma companies with support in all aspects of advancing personalised medicine and targeted therapies, said the firm.

Quintiles’ collaboration with London Genetics follows a string of recent alliances such as its deal with Danish-based firm, Dako and cancer diagnostics company, Biomoda; both of which are intended to further development of personalised oncology medicine.

Looking to establish a presence in developing targeted therapeutics, Quintiles said it is continuing to look for new partnerships that support biopharma in advancing personalised medicine.