Illumina and Bristol-Myers Squibb Collaborate to Develop Companion Diagnostics

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Illumina Inc. have entered into a collaboration that will utilize Illumina’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to develop and globally commercialize in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) assays in support of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s oncology portfolio. The companies plan to develop a diagnostic version of the Illumina TruSight Oncology 500 assay to measure potentially predictive genomic biomarkers, including tumor mutation burden (TMB). Illumina’s TruSight Oncology 500 assay is being developed to detect most of the known biomarkers for oncology therapeutics, including TMB and microsatellite instability for immunotherapies.

Through deep understanding of cancer biology and emerging research, Bristol-Myers Squibb recognizes the importance for physicians to know each patient’s biomarker status to help fight their cancer in a more personalized way. They are excited to partner with Illumina to pursue development of diagnostics that can help predict which patients will have the potential to benefit most from their immunotherapies. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s clinical development program includes 24 clinical-stage molecules designed to target different immune system pathways across more than 50 types of cancers, and through its translational capabilities, has identified a number of potentially predictive biomarkers, including PD-L1, TMB, MSI-H/dMMR, and LAG-3.