J&J, AstraZeneca and Sanofi join Illumina to create a pan-cancer test

Pharma giants AstraZeneca ($AZN), Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) and Sanofi ($SNY) have teamed up with gene sequencing pioneer Illumina ($ILMN) to create a single test that screen patients for a wealth of cancer-related gene variants, allowing drugmakers to identify the ideal recipients of their oncology drugs. Under the agreement, the companies will pitch in to create a test that can recognize more than 100 identified genes that drive cancer, first putting it to use in clinical trials for in-development treatments and eventually securing regulatory approval and using it to match patients to on-the-market drugs. The test will run on Illumina's MiSeqDx sequencing platform, the only such device to win FDA clearance. More