Agendia, a global innovator in molecular cancer diagnostics, announced that, together with thought-leading collaborators in clinical centres and translational research groups, it has launched the RATHER (Rational Therapy for Breast Cancer) and COLTHERES (Colon Cancer and Therapeutics) consortiums. The partnerships will collectively receive nearly €12 million in funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme over a five-year term. Agendia, in particular, will receive €1.27 million for the development of new molecular diagnostics to help guide individualized treatment of cancer patients.

Both consortiums will be focused on gaining deeper insight into molecular subtypes of breast and colon cancer, and the development of biomarkers for use in predicting patients’ individual responses to new targeted drugs. While RATHER seeks to improve treatment for triple negative and lobular breast cancer patients, COLTHERES is focused on response or resistance to targeted therapeutics in colon cancer. Both consortiums consist of clinical partners as well as leading translational research groups with a proven track record in developing companion diagnostics for cancer therapies. The objective of these partnerships is to define and perform biomarker-driven clinical trials to improve cancer therapy outcomes, with Agendia developing reliable and standardized biomarker tests.

Other members of the consortiums include the University College Dublin, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) Amsterdam, Institute Curie Paris, Malmö University Hospital Lund, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona, University of Cambridge, OncoMark Ltd Dublin, University of Leuven, Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital Milano, IDIBELL Barcelona, Horizon Discovery UK, University of Liverpool, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the University of Torino School of Medicine.

“We are pleased to participate in these EU funded projects and to work with these outstanding international experts in the fields of functional genomics, pharmacogenetics, bio-informatics and clinical oncology.” said Prof. Dr. Rene Bernards, CSO of Agendia. “For Agendia, this is a great opportunity to develop new companion diagnostics together with a large group of scientists and physicians to address urgent clinical needs. The unique consortium structures will allow a rapid translation of results from research and discovery into a clinical setting that benefits patients.”

Agendia is a leading global commercial molecular diagnostic company that develops and markets genomic-based diagnostic products that improve the quality of life for cancer patients and simplifies complex treatment decisions for their physicians.