Quintiles is partnering with British genomics testing company Population Genetics Technologies in a move that broadens the clinical research organization’s capability to bring genetic testing and analysis into the clinical development of drugs.
Durham, North Carolina-based Quintiles said it will work with PGT to find opportunities for large-scale genomic analysis, tests that use samples from as many as thousands of individuals, to test and find the connection of biomarkers to drug response. This kind of large-scale testing has been expensive, but Quintiles says that PGT can make the process easier and less costly. PGT’s technology can process hundreds of genomes simultaneously, which accelerates large-scale population studies.
BioLabs Pegasus Park Cultivates Life Science Ecosystem
Gabby Everett, the site director for BioLabs Pegasus Park, offered a tour of the space and shared some examples of why early-stage life science companies should choose North Texas.
Financial terms of the partnership between the two privately held companies were not disclosed. The arrangement is nonexclusive and both companies say they will seek opportunities with other companies.
Senior vice president of Quintiles Innovation, M. King Jolly, said in a prepared statement that the companies believe the partnership will increase the probability of success in clinical trials, reduce trial enrollment required to reach statistical significance and reduce both the costs and the time required to bring new drugs to market.
“PGT’s technology combined with Quintiles’ global presence can bring the benefits of large-scale sequencing and analysis to virtually all biopharmaceutical companies,” Jolly said.
PGT Chief Commercial Officer Frank Massam said that the companies’ first project is a renal cancer clinical trial to identify genetic markers that are predictive of both adverse events and efficacy. The company has also applied its technology to programs in breast cancer, leukemia and Alzheimer’s disease.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Quintiles is the CRO industry’s largest provider with more than $3 billion in annual revenue. The company has operations in 60 countries.
