Roche Partners With Horizon Discovery Group On New Drugs

Pharmaceutical giant Roche Diagnostics has partnered with Cambridge-based Horizon Discovery Group to work on developing immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays together.

IHC assays are used in the development of new drugs, and cancer therapies in particular could advance as a result of this partnership.

Horizon explained that one of the areas it will be targeting through this partnership is neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK) fusion biomarkers, which have recently been discovered to be promising targets for cancer treatments.

The Cambridgeshire firm will provide these biomarkers to Roche Diagnostics, and because they mimic real patient samples, they will allow the pharmaceutical company to carry out testing while ensuring “better control of variability across the complete diagnostic workflow”, the organisation explained.

Chief executive officer at the company Dr Darrin M Disley commented: “Horizon continues to establish itself as a leading supporter of the development and validation of molecular diagnostics by providing reliable and high-quality reference standards to assay developers.”

Earlier this month the UK government announced details of the Sector Deal with the country’s life sciences industry.

The aim of this plan, which will see significant investment from a number of organisations operating in this area, is to “ensure the UK is at the forefront of developing new innovative treatments and medical technologies that improve patient lives”.

In addition to the investment being delivered by private organisations, the government will also be ploughing funding into the sector to support it. Up to £210 million could therefore be made available for the likes of early diagnostics programmes, genomics and using AI with digital pathology and radiology.

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