Foundation Medicine Announces Fourth Major Pharmaceutical Company Alliance

Foundation Medicine Announces Fourth Major Pharmaceutical Company Alliance

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct 25, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Foundation Medicine, Inc., a cancer diagnostics company that aims to bring comprehensive cancer genome analysis to routine care, today announced a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, L.L.C. (J&JPRD). The collaboration is focused on using Foundation Medicine's comprehensive clinical cancer genomic test to identify potential biomarkers to support J&JPRD oncology clinical development programs. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

This collaboration marks Foundation Medicine's fourth pharmaceutical company alliance this year, following on the heels of collaborations with Novartis and Celgene, and one undisclosed alliance.

"We are very pleased to work with J&JPRD and for our test to be used in the ongoing clinical development of new targeted cancer therapies," said Michael J. Pellini, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Foundation Medicine. "Cancer care is being improved by new therapies that target the molecular drivers of individual tumors. Our test may help identify patients that are more likely to respond to targeted therapies, which could accelerate clinical development and give physicians additional ways to effectively treat patients. This collaboration is further validation of Foundation Medicine's approach and the value our comprehensive cancer genomic test can bring to pharmaceutical clinical trials."

In addition to ongoing collaborations with pharmaceutical companies to use its test in their respective clinical trials, Foundation Medicine has developed a clinical diagnostic test for physicians to use for patient care.

Foundation Medicine's comprehensive cancer diagnostic test uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze routine clinical specimens (i.e., small amounts of formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue) for molecular alterations in more than 200 cancer-related genes. The test is optimized for clinical-grade analysis of tumor tissues, overcoming multiple complexities (such as purity, ploidy, and clonality) inherent to tumor genomes. Test results will be reported through a secure, interactive website linking genomic data to a structured knowledge base of relevant, publicly available scientific and medical information. The company also aims to provide information on relevant clinical trials through its website to enable a more rapid recruitment of patients into trials for targeted therapies. Foundation Medicine's test can serve as a helpful decision-support tool for physicians to recommend cancer treatment approaches tailored to each patient's molecular subtype.

About Foundation Medicine

Foundation Medicine is dedicated to improving cancer care through the development of comprehensive cancer diagnostics that will help physicians inform treatment decisions based on an individual patient's molecular cancer subtype. Foundation Medicine's first laboratory developed test, based on a next-generation sequencing platform, is designed to accommodate a broad landscape of cancer genome information and a growing repertoire of targeted treatments and clinical research opportunities. Foundation Medicine's test will assist physicians to make prompt and informed determinations about the best cancer treatments and clinical trial options for each patient, taking into account each patient's unique cancer-associated alterations alongside publicly available scientific and medical information. The company's founding advisors are world leaders in genome technology, cancer biology and medical oncology; they, alongside clinicians and biotech and molecular diagnostics industry leaders, are working to harness emerging technologies to develop unparalleled tests that will identify and interpret an ever-growing set of actionable genomic alterations, truly enabling personalized cancer medicine. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.foundationmedicine.com .

SOURCE: Foundation Medicine, Inc.



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