Dako teams up with Eli Lilly for companion diagnostics

Dako, now owned by Agilent Technologies ($A), has signed a deal with Eli Lilly ($LLY) to develop companion diagnostics for the drugmaker's pipeline cancer treatments.

Under the agreement, Dako will create tests to better identify patients who will benefit from Lilly's investigational oncology drugs. And while neither company got into the specifics of which drugs or even which cancers, Lilly diagnostics COO Greg Zdechlik said the pairing reflects the company's commitment to personalized medicine.

"Tailored therapies are a key component of Lilly's strategy of providing improved outcomes for individual patients," Zdechlik said in a statement. "We look forward to collaborating with Dako in an effort to develop oncology companion diagnostics for patients worldwide who are waiting."

Dako is no stranger to companion diagnostics deals, and, since buying the firm for $2.2 billion last year, Agilent has said it plans to focus on the growing market segment going forward, capitalizing on en-vogue personalized medicine development.

For Lilly, the agreement follows a similar one with PrimeraDx last fall, signing on to use the company's ICEPlex assay-development platform to craft tests for cancer drugs and other therapies. Then, as now, both firms were wary of specifics.

- check out the announcement