Ipsen and bioMerieux sign theragnostics deal

French drugmaker Ipsen has signed an agreement with fellow France-based in vitro diagnostics group bioMerieux to develop a companion test for a new breast cancer drug undergoing clinical evaluation by the former. The project will be co-funded by the two firms.

Ipsen is developing a novel breast cancer therapy, BN 83495, targeting the steroid sulfatase enzyme. The new drug, designed to block this marker found in hormone-dependent breast cancer in postmenopausal women, is currently in Phase I clinical development. bioMerieux will devise a companion assay to determine these patients best suited to benefit from the new STS inhibitor treatment. The assay is intended for both the clinical development of the Ipsen drug as well as a diagnostic test, potentially for future commercialization. The test will be developed on bioMerieux' NucliSENS EasyQ molecular diagnostics platform, using the company's proprietary NASBA amplification technology.

Jean-Luc Belingard, chief executive of the Ipsen Group stated: "this innovative collaboration with bioMerieux is designed to help Ipsen accelerate the time-to-market of its potent steroid sulphatase inhibitor compound BN 83495, bringing, as soon as possible, its therapeutic benefits to those breast cancer patients showing potentially responsive clinical profiles." Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer worldwide with 1.1 million new cases diagnosed each year and is responsible for some 502,000 deaths annually.