Switzerland-based Roche has acquired Germany’s translational oncology and genomics company Signature Diagnostics, for an undisclosed sum.
Signature develops large blood plasma and tissue biobanks in multiple cancers, comprising colorectal and lung. They were constructed from multicenter prospective clinical trials.
Roche Diagnostics COO Roland Diggelmann said: "Biobanks play an important role in uncovering the cause or origin of disease such as cancer which is important in translational research and the development of personalized therapies for patients.
"Roche plans to leverage Signature’s expertise in both of these areas to accelerate the development of targeted NGS-based diagnostics in the future. Biobanks can also be used for biomarker discovery and hypothesis testing with Pharma."
In addition, Signature develops several next generation sequencing (NGS) assays using targeted gene panels.
To develop and validate circulating cell free DNA (cfDNA) tests, Signature uses the samples from its biobanks along with accompanying clinical progression and genetic data.
These tests are said to hold the potential to advance non-invasive treatment response monitoring for patients with cancer.
Roche will incorporate the acquired business in its sequencing unit, and will continue to focus to expand genomic signature portfolio.