QIAGEN and AstraZeneca Expand Collaboration into New Disease Areas

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 29 Aug 2024

Image: The QIAstat-Dx Analyzer is designed to make laboratory diagnostic testing faster and easier (Photo courtesy of QIAGEN)

QIAGEN (Venlo, the Netherlands) has expanded its Master Collaboration Agreement with AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics (CDx) for AstraZeneca’s future therapies being developed to address chronic diseases. Under the agreement, QIAGEN will develop and validate a genotyping assay using QIAGEN’s syndromic testing platform QIAstat-Dx. The test will enable specialty care providers to potentially perform genotyping whilst patients are undergoing routine clinical examination, thus enabling fast decision-making for potential suitability for AstraZeneca’s genomically targeted medicines.

QIAGEN develops companion diagnostics that can detect genetic abnormalities to provide insights that guide clinical decision-making about treatments. From polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digital PCR (dPCR) to next-generation sequencing (NGS), QIAGEN offers wide range of technologies, which means it can tailor products to partners’ needs. QIAGEN has master collaboration agreements to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics with more than 30 global companies – a deep pipeline that will advance precision medicine, which tailors a patient’s treatment to the genetic profile identified by companion diagnostics testing. Furthermore, QIAGEN has a series of collaborations to develop companion diagnostics in disease areas outside oncology.

The QIAstat-Dx system, designed for laboratory use, employs cost-efficient, single-use cartridges with built-in sample processing and on-board reagents. Utilizing multiplex real-time PCR, it detects and differentiates between multiple biomarkers, with results in about an hour. QIAstat-Dx also provides easy‑to‑view cycle threshold (Ct) values and amplification curves, offering additional insights not available with end-point PCR or other techniques. At the end of 2023, over 4,000 cumulative instrument placements had been made.

“We are pleased to expand our partnership with AstraZeneca into new disease areas using our QIAstat‑Dx system and to develop together the first companion diagnostic for chronic diseases based on this platform,” said Fernando Beils, Senior Vice President, Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area at QIAGEN. “The development of the QIAstat-Dx genotyping assay with AstraZeneca showcases QIAGEN’s expertise in companion diagnostic development and commercialization, utilizing the most suitable molecular testing platform to meet the unique clinical and commercial needs of patient testing.”