DxS extends EGFR license with Genzyme Genetics to include US and Canada
UK personalised medicince company DxS has expanded its licence with Genzyme Genetics, a business unit of US-based Genzyme Corporation, for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to include the US and Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed.
UK personalised medicince company DxS has expanded its licence with Genzyme Genetics, a business unit of US-based Genzyme Corporation, for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to include the US and Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The licence grants DxS the rights to develop and commercialise diagnostic and research products that detect mutations in the EGFR gene for non-small cell lung cancer, and sell them in the US and Canada. This builds on a previous licence in which Genzyme granted DxS EGFR rights to the world with the exception of North America, Canada, Mexico and Hong Kong.
EGFR has been identified as an important factor in prescribing effective treatments for non- small cell lung cancer, as patients who have a mutated EGFR gene are far more likely to respond to certain treatments. DxS currently has two different EGFR products; the EGFR29 research kit and a CE-marked diagnostic called TheraScreen, which will be distributed in Europe by Roche Diagnostics early in 2009.
"The extension of this license is particularly timely as EGFR is becoming increasingly important in ensuring patients receive the best cancer treatment," said Dr Stephen Little, ceo of DxS.
