Agilent Technologies company Dako has partnered with Ono Pharmaceutical to develop a new diagnostic test, specifically for use with Opdivo (nivolumab) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Terms of the deal were not discovered.
According to Dako, the test will be investigated for its diagnostic utility to determine which patients are most likely to respond to Opdivo.
Agilent Diagnostics and Genomics Group president Jacob Thaysen said: "We are pleased to be chosen as ONO’s partner for the development of a companion diagnostic test for this promising drug.
"Today’s announcement follows several other collaborative agreements in the companion diagnostics area by Agilent’s Dako business."
Opdivo is an investigational PD-1 (programmed cell death-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, which binds to the checkpoint receptor PD-1 expressed on activated T-cells.
In July 2014, Ono announced that Opdivo obtained manufacturing and marketing approval in Japan to treat patients with unresectable melanoma, while sales have been started in September of the same year.