Agilent, Akoya to develop diagnostic solutions for tissue analysis

Agilent (A) announced a partnership with Akoya Biosciences (AKYA) to develop multiplex-immunohistochemistry diagnostic solutions for tissue analysis and to commercialize workflow solutions for multiplex assays in the clinical research market. Integrating Agilent’s Dako Omnis and Akoya’s PhenoImager HT for multiplex chromogenic immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent assays will create a singular end-to-end commercial workflow, including reagents, staining, imaging, and analysis. Agilent and Akoya will partner to develop chromogenic and immunofluorescent multiplex assays that include spatial analysis for biopharma companies developing precision cancer therapeutics. These assay solutions will enable researchers and medical professionals to address patient selection needs of novel therapeutics and rapidly translate their discoveries into clinical testing. Spatial phenotyping using multiplex imaging provides the advantages of single-cell analysis while preserving spatial relationships between the cells. This offers an invaluable tool for uncovering novel insights into cellular organization in the tumor microenvironment and therapeutic response. This agreement will deliver an end-to-end multiplex solution for biomarker clinical research enabled by digital pathology, providing capabilities across the pharma value chain. Combining Agilent’s companion diagnostic and IHC workflow expertise, the large install base of Dako Omnis instruments, and a strong network of pharma partners; with Akoya’s install base of imagers, spatial analysis expertise, and CLIA lab capabilities will further empower biopharma partners to leverage this integrated workflow solution for their biomarker discovery and validation needs, helping drive better patient stratification. Under a separate Value-Added Reseller agreement, Akoya Biosciences will distribute and resell Dako Omnis as a part of the end-to-end multiplex solution.