Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[biopharm]

Collaborations ... biomarkers and imaging:

While various BP's are collaborating with Peregrine with the anti-PS targeting platform, others are collaborating to try and find another biomarker, another target.... some other way.

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Beactica and BI

Oct 23, 2013

...Beactica will use its proprietary fragment-based platform to identify novel and selective hits against oncology-relevant kinases of therapeutic interest to Boehringer Ingelheim

http://www.allvoices.com/news/15802714-beactica-expands-drug-discovery-collaboration-with-boehringer-ingelheim
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BMS and Adaptive

May 9, 2013 ... weeks before the PPHM FDA Phase III approval

Adaptive Biotechnologies Signs Biomarker Discovery Collaboration Agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adaptive-biotechnologies-signs-biomarker-discovery-collaboration-agreement-with-bristol-myers-squibb-206765801.html
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I still am curious how Roche long Roche was collaborating with Peregrine and using Bavi imaging

Roche collaborations within "diagnostics" :

The goal is to identify those technologies and biomarkers that address a high unmet medical need and which complement Roche’s existing portfolio, helping to secure the future product pipeline. Roche is able to tap into a large pool of creative and unconventional ideas and discoveries by monitoring and cooperating with diverse sources of knowledge and innovation across disciplines like biochemistry, molecular biology, physics, engineering and informatics.

http://www.roche.com/research_and_development/collaborations_in_diagnostics.htm
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Roche: The ultimate insider view

Medical imaging plays an increasingly important role in the development of new drugs

And how does imaging fit into research and development at Roche? Three years ago, Roche formed an Imaging Sciences group within the TRS organization (led by Anna-Lena Nordström) in recognition that more and more pRED projects are using imaging technology to improve the understanding of disease biology and to aid in drug development.

Since that time, part of the original imaging group has been integrated into Oncology Discovery & Translational Area (DTA) and is now named Oncology Translational Imaging (OTI). Team members include Abi Keelara, Tapan Nayak, Jean Tessier and Gudrun Zahlmann. The group’s expertise helps pRED colleagues answer important questions like: Does the drug reach the tumor? Is the drug causing pharmacodynamics changes in a patient’s tumor? Is the drug causing the tumor to change shape or size? In some cases, imaging can help with decisions regarding which dose should be used.

“In the Oncology DTA, non-invasive imaging tools are used alongside with tissue-based diagnostics to gain a more complete view of disease and response to therapies. This helps to improve decision making,” explains David Geho, who heads the OTI group.

Among the imaging modalities used in pRED projects are MRI, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and CT scans. These can be used in global, multicenter studies and have contributed to decision making across multiple oncology programs. The OTI team is also exploring the use of advanced image analysis tools to assess changes in three-dimensional (3-D) tumor volumes as a means to more sensitively detect treatment effects on tumors.

In addition to the in-house experts on the Imaging Sciences team, Roche benefits from academic alliances such as the Dutch Imaging Hub (DIH). The hub connects pRED with three world-renowned institutes for advanced imaging: Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam, University Medical Center Groningen, and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center. Eight Roche postdocs and PhDs are working on numerous studies in oncology as part of the DIH collaboration.

Both OTI and the experts at the DIH are keenly interested if radiolabeled therapeutic antibodies (often called “radiotracers”) can be used in drug development. PET scanning with these tracers has been incorporated into several oncology programs to assess the drug’s tumor-targeting characteristics and to show how a new drug is distributed within the patient’s body.

“We are eager to work with pRED development teams on the implementation of molecular imaging tools that will enable us to make better drug development decisions,” David says.

http://www.roche.com/media/roche_stories/roche-stories-2013-10-03.htm

Looks like Bavi Imaging was in the hands of some of the finest Switzerland scientists -- part of Roches "Oncology Translational Imaging" OTI --