Biocartis announced it has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca. The goal of the agreement will be to obtain faster lung cancer molecular diagnostic biomarker results in Europe.

A prospective lung cancer study with the Idylla EGFR Mutation Test (CE-IVD) will be conducted in selected European countries, per the agreement. This study is aimed at demonstrating how the features of the Idylla platform can overcome the current complexity and long turnaround time for lung cancer patients by delivering accurate biomarker results faster and easier. The study will be initiated at more than a dozen sites in Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, contributing for 13% of all cancer types and in total 85% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Many lung cancers are driven by mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which occur in 10-15% of NSCLC patients in the US and the EU, and 30-40% of NSCLC patients in Asia. Current molecular testing of lung cancer samples is a complex process, also because obtaining high quality tissue samples is difficult. It can take up to several weeks4 before results are generated. Moreover, many laboratories do not have the necessary infrastructure to perform complex molecular tests, resulting in laboratories sending out their samples to other testing facilities, causing long waiting times.

“We are very excited to be collaborating with AstraZeneca in the area of lung cancer,” Herman Verrelst, Chief Executive Officer of Biocartis, said in a press release. “With this prospective study, we expect to once again demonstrate the positive impact of delivering highly accurate biomarker results in a fast and easy way, to the benefit of the patients. For Biocartis, this is yet another important collaboration to support the further roll-out of our Idylla platform.”