Pfizer, Inc., and Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation have announced a translational research collaboration to advance next-generation sequencing of the adaptive immune system. Specifically, the companies want combine drug development and platform technology biomarker expertise to identify those cancer patients most likely to benefit from potential therapies in Pfizer’s immuno-oncology pipeline.
“Immunotherapy is one of the most important advances in cancer therapy and offers the potential for long term disease control for many patients,” Chris Boshoff, vice president and head of Early Development, Translational and Immuno-Oncology at Pfizer Oncology, said in a press release. “Pfizer is investing significantly in this space. The collaboration with Adaptive Biotechnologies supports our strategy of accelerating the development of potentially innovative new combination treatments by allowing us to develop a differentiated and competitive understanding of the immune landscape in specific tumor types.”
Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation has expertise in translating immunosequencing discoveries into clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. It specializes in applying high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to profile T-cell and B-cell receptors. Pfizer, a leading biopharmaceutical company, plans to use Adaptive’s immunosequencing platform technology and bioinformatics capability to accelerate its immuno-oncology biomarker and drug development programs.
Determining and reliably measuring a cancer patient’s immune response before and after therapy is critical to defining the most appropriate immunotherapy for that patient.
“This collaboration with Pfizer is evidence of the immense impact immune repertoire profiling may have on the immuno-oncology space,” said Chad Robins, Adaptive Biotechnologies’ president and CEO, and co-founder. “Adaptive’s ability to precisely measure a patient’s immune response to cancer before and after treatment provides a universal tool that will help bolster our understanding of immuno-oncology approaches.”
