Companion diagnostics are a powerful tool in the fight against cancer. One company’s mission has led the way.
Never has there been more information to enable a patient’s fight against cancer, but how does one select the right treatment? This is how companion diagnostics fit with precision medicine.
Patients first
Advances have made cancer therapies more effective through targeting specific molecules. Companion diagnostics (CDx) are tests that provide information that is essential for the safe and effective use of these targeted therapies.
Mark Verardo, Ph.D.
Head of The Science Office, Agilent Technologies, Inc.
This is the foundation of precision medicine. “The promise of precision medicine is to have treatments that are tailored to the patient’s needs,” noted Mark Verardo, head of Agilent’s Science Office.
Leading the way
Agilent broke new ground with HercepTestTM — the first CDx approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Fast-forward 15 years, Agilent also received the first FDA-approved CDx for PD-L1. This led to a change in cancer treatment driven by immunotherapies targeting PD-1/PD-L1. The success of PD-L1 has prompted investments into other targeted drugs and companion diagnostics, where simultaneous development is ideal.
Companion diagnostic development necessitates close collaboration between diagnostic and pharmaceutical partners, regulatory expertise, and global capability — all strengths of the Clinical Diagnostics Division at Agilent.
Grant Toland
Senior Scientific Program Manager, Agilent Technologies, Inc.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all on how to develop a drug,” explained Grant Toland, Agilent’s senior scientific program manager. “We can adapt our CDx development to support our pharma partners.” This collaboration allows Agilent to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics efficiently. Ultimately, a drug and CDx can be approved concurrently, and patients can be tested the same day.
For more information, click here, or visit Agilent at booth 36076 at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting
D0131439_1.00
