Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, and Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) have entered into an agreement to collaborate on the development of companion diagnostic tests for Boehringer Ingelheim oncology programmes.

As part of the agreement, Ventana will utilize its immunohistochemistry technology platform, experience and expertise in companion diagnostic development and premarket approval (PMA) submissions to support Boehringer Ingelheim's personalized medicine healthcare strategies for cancer drug development.

Companion diagnostic tests provide information that aids physicians in choosing targeted treatments for their patients based on the expected best response to therapy. By integrating the development of companion diagnostic kits and drug candidates, Boehringer Ingelheim strives to yield cancer treatments with optimized benefit risk profiles.

"We are pleased that our commitment to enable Personalized Healthcare for patients worldwide was recognized by Boehringer Ingelheim when they selected Ventana to be a companion diagnostics development partner for their oncology programmes," says Mara G Aspinall, president, Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

"We look forward to partnering with Ventana and accessing their significant capabilities and expertise in developing companion diagnostics that will complement our products to further advance the delivery of personalized healthcare solutions for patients," says Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice president, Medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim.

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

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (VMSI) innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide.

The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies and committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel medications of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.