Almac Diagnostics will collaborate with Illumina on developing companion diagnostics based on next-generation sequencing, the companies said today. The value of the collaboration was not disclosed.

Almac said the alliance will enable it to develop NGS assays using Illumina’s MiSeqDx® instrument, the first FDA-cleared IVD NGS system designed specifically for clinical labs. The collaboration with Illumina aims to provide another platform for its assays, expanding the options available to Almac partners.

The collaboration is not the first between the companies. In 2013, Almac launched a cancer tumor profiling service using Illumina’s TruSight Tumor™ panel.

The alliance with Illumina follows Almac’s launch of several collaborations with biopharma partners aimed at creating companion diagnostics. According to Almac, each alliance is designed to apply its expertise in developing and delivering multiplex RNA and DNA based tests.

“We are fully committed to the development of precision medicine and partnerships of this nature provide more avenues for test delivery, enabling development of diagnostic tests which will ultimately improve care in a wide range of disease areas,” Professor Paul Harkin, president and managing director of Almac Diagnostics, said in a statement.

Almac Diagnostics is part of Almac Group, a privately-held contract development and manufacturing organization headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, with operatings in the U.S., the U.K., and Asia. Almac’s services include R&D, biomarker discovery and development, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply, IXRS® technology (IVRS/IWRS) and commercial-scale manufacture.

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