Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, has entered into a multi-year agreement with Bayer Pharma AG (Bayer) to develop companion diagnostics, with a focus on immunohistochemistry (IHC), across Bayer's portfolio of targeted therapy projects.

This new agreement extends an already existing collaboration and focuses on the development of diagnostic tests for Bayer's biomarker targeted therapeutics from early discovery through commercialization.

Ventana has proven expertise in immunohistochemistry and the detection of various protein structures. In addition, the company offers a global prevalence of automated IHC platforms, now numbering more than 10,000 worldwide.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Ventana will create an expert team with resources exclusively assigned to Bayer projects and will work on the development of companion diagnostic tests for targeted therapies in the Bayer development portfolio. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are looking forward to continue our collaboration with the Ventana team to develop companion diagnostics that will help to select targeted therapeutics for cancer patients," says Prof Dr Khusru Asadullah, vice president and head of global biomarkers at Bayer HealthCare.

"These types of agreements are for pharmaceutical companies that have made companion diagnostics core to their development platform," says Doug Ward, vice president, companion diagnostics, Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. "Bayer chose Ventana because they want a partner that is prepared to deliver."

In addition to Bayer, Ventana has worked with more than 45 biopharmaceutical partners over the past decade and is currently engaged in more than 150 collaborative projects to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics globally.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics.