Bayer Pharma has collaborated with Ventana Medical Systems, a member of the Roche Group, to develop a molecular companion diagnostic test to identify patients most likely to benefit from a novel Bayer antibody-drug conjugate (ADC).

Ventana will initially develop, manufacture and commercialize a companion diagnostic test for one of Bayer’s ADCs. Both parties may initiate further development projects to develop molecular diagnostic tests over the next five years.

Bayer’s choice to partner with Ventana was based on the latter's diagnostic immunohistochemistry platform, which aims to analyze the expression level of certain tumor targets serving as biomarkers in clinical studies for patient selection. Ventana has also recently formed partnerships with Pfizer and Syndax Pharmaceuticals.

"We are very excited to partner with Ventana to develop a companion diagnostic for one of our ADC projects," said Andreas Busch, head of Global Drug Discovery for Bayer. "This constitutes another step for Bayer towards personalized medicine in cancer treatment as the selection of patients most likely to benefit from an ADC will increase the overall probability of therapeutic success for patients suffering from cancer."