Bristol-Myers Squibb and QIAGEN Sign Agreement for Use of NGS Technology to Develop Gene Expression Profiles for Immuno-Oncology Therapies

NEW YORK and HILDEN, Germany, June 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and QIAGEN (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) have signed an agreement to explore the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to develop gene expression profiles (GEPs) as predictive or prognostic tools for use with Bristol-Myers Squibb novel immuno-oncology (I-O) therapies in cancer treatment. This will leverage the combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb's portfolio of I-O therapies with QIAGEN's proven track record in developing and commercializing companion and complementary diagnostics as well as QIAGEN's portfolio of NGS technologies. I-O therapies offer a novel way to treat cancer by using drugs to target the body's immune system to help fight cancer.

QIAGEN and Bristol-Myers Squibb intend to develop GEPs for several Bristol-Myers Squibb I-O molecules under the initial agreement. The companies also plan to enter into a further agreement to develop diagnostic products using the jointly developed GEPs to expand the use of NGS technology with other Bristol-Myers Squibb I-O therapies.

"Greater precision in the treatment of cancer may enable faster decision making to identify which patient populations are most likely to derive benefit from our immuno-oncology agents," said Fouad Namouni, M.D., head of Development, Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We believe working with QIAGEN will help develop better diagnostic tools to target the most appropriate immunotherapies across a number of different tumor types."

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SOURCE QIAGEN