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Amgen Deal Tests ‘Residual Disease’ in Trials

Amgen Inc. has entered into a global agreement with Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies for the use of Adaptive’s software, which assesses minimal residual disease in patients. According to a statement released Sept. 17, the technology, called clonoSEQ Assay, is a sequencing-based program. When cancer remains in the body after treatment, doctors refer to remaining cancer cells or tumors as “residual disease.” The Thousand Oaks biotech giant will use clonoSEQ across multiple drug development programs within its hematology portfolio. The four-year agreement will allow Adaptive to receive annual development fees, in addition to sequencing payments and regulatory milestones, in exchange for providing testing and analysis for ongoing and future clinical trials at Amgen. “It is critical to know a patient’s MRD status because treating to MRD negativity has been shown to drive better clinical outcomes for patients in a variety of blood cancers,” Dr. Gregory Friberg, vice president of global development at Amgen, said in a statement. “Standardized, highly sensitive, molecular detection of MRD using clonoSEQ supports the development of potential cancer therapies that can help patients with blood cancer live longer.”

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