Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said it entered into an agreement with DxS, a wholly owned subsidiary of QIAGEN N.V. (QGEN), to develop a companion diagnostic test kit for PF-04948568, an immunotherapy vaccine in development for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. Financial terms of the diagnostic agreement have not been disclosed.
Pfizer's investigational drug PF-04948568 is a peptide vaccine which targets the tumor-specific Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor variant III, a mutated form of the epidermal growth factor receptor that is only present in cancer cells and occurs in 25-40 percent of GBM tumors. The QIAGEN assay is designed to identify those patients whose tumors express the EGFRvIII mutation, allowing for the possibility of more targeted and personalized treatment.
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