Source: kai kalhh , no changes made.
Veracyte, Inc. has announced that it has entered into a long-term strategic collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC (Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.) and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson to advance the development and commercialization of novel diagnostic tests to detect lung cancer at its earliest stages, when the disease is most treatable. The collaboration will build upon foundational “field of injury” science — where genomic changes associated with lung cancer can be identified with a simple brushing of a person’s airway — to develop new interventions that can save lives.
Veracyte based in South San Francisco, California, is a leading genomic diagnostics company that improves patient care by providing trustworthy and actionable answers to challenging clinical questions. Since its founding in 2008, Veracyte has commercialized three genomic tests, which are transforming the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company’s products uniquely combine advanced genomic technology, clinical science and machine learning to provide answers that give physicians and patients a clear path forward, informing both diagnosis and treatment decisions without the need for costly, risky surgeries that are often unnecessary.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation is a center for science and business experts to collaborate with innovators to incorporate science into healthcare solutions, including medical device and diagnostic technologies, consumer healthcare products, and pharmaceuticals. It is focused on the advancement of new healthcare solutions.
Under terms of the agreement, Veracyte and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, whose mission is to prevent, intercept and cure lung cancer, will combine clinical study cohorts involving more than 5,000 patients with multiple years of clinical outcome data. Veracyte will contribute bronchial and nasal samples from its clinical trials, which are part of the company’s extensive lung cancer-focused biorepository. Veracyte will deploy its RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, utilizing high-dimensional data and machine learning pipelines on the combined cohort, providing the most comprehensive genomic content available which the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson will have access to for therapeutic purposes.
The collaboration is expected to accelerate two key lung cancer programs for Veracyte. First, the development of the first non-invasive nasal swab test for early lung cancer detection and, secondly, the commercialization of its Percepta classifier on the company’s RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, which, as a result of this collaboration, is expected to launch in the first half of 2019.
“We are thrilled to team up with Johnson & Johnson and their Lung Cancer Initiative in the fight against lung cancer.” …”This strategic collaboration further advances Veracyte’s pioneering position in lung cancer diagnosis and underscores the promise of our field of injury science and approach. With the acceleration of our product pipeline, we believe this collaboration expands our addressable lung cancer diagnostic market to a $30 billion to $40 billion global opportunity.”
“We estimate the combined monetary and non-monetary value of the collaboration to Veracyte at more than $50 million. The monetary component consists of a $5 million upfront payment and the potential to earn up to a total of $15 million in future development and reimbursement milestone payments. The non-monetary value reflects the significant value of clinical cohorts accessible to Veracyte through the collaboration. Also as result of this agreement, we expect our biopharmaceutical service revenue for 2019 to increase by an estimated $5 million.” – Bonnie Anderson, chairman and chief executive officer of Veracyte.
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