QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced two agreements adding promising new biomarkers involving glioblastoma, lymphoma and other cancers to QIAGEN's expanding portfolio of potential companion diagnostics that is being developed to help doctors use a patient's genomic information to guide treatment decisions.
In the glioblastoma project, QIAGEN has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing option on FGFR-TACC fusion genes with Columbia University in New York. QIAGEN intends to develop this biomarker into a diagnostic test for routine use in diagnostic workups, which may enable doctors to identify glioblastoma patients who could benefit from targeted treatments now under development. Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of primary brain tumor, a serious unmet medical need because the disease is generally fatal despite aggressive therapy. Fusions between members of the FGFR and TACC gene families also have been identified recently as present in several other malignancies, including bladder cancers.