SAN FRANCISCO – Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, is wading into the multibillion-dollar field of personalized medicine by announcing deals to develop companion tests with two drugmakers.
The Munich-based company will work with HIV drugmaker ViiV Healthcare and Tocagen, developer of an experimental brain tumor treatment, to create tests that determine which patients will benefit from the therapies, said Trevor Hawkins, head of Siemens’ next-generation diagnostics division.
“This is a major step forward for us, moving into this multibillion market, which we haven’t been in up until today,” Hawkins said in an interview last week.
Personalized medicine involves determining whether a patient is genetically susceptible to a particular disease or would be especially responsive to certain treatments. These new therapies often require special genetic tests, which are being created by separate companies, in some cases.
The market for molecular diagnostics, which includes personalized medicine tests, will more than double in the U.S. to $5.5 billion in 2016 from $2.5 billion in 2010, according to TriMarkPublications.com.
ViiV, a venture between London-based GlaxoSmithKline and New York-based Pfizer , the world’s biggest drugmaker, has an HIV drug called Selzentry that works with patients who have a specific form of the virus. Siemens will develop a test to help doctors determine which patients would benefit from the therapy.
Tocagen, based in San Diego, is working on a treatment for glioma, or brain cancer, called Toca 511 that’s in early human trials. Working with Siemens will give the company more credibility in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, said Harry Gruber, chief executive officer of closely held Tocagen.
Siemens, Roche and Abbott Laboratories are seeking to form partnerships with drugmakers to develop these companion tests, said David Parker, vice president of the consulting firm Boston Healthcare.
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Siemens partners with drugmakers
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