4 January 2019 - - US-based genomic diagnostics company Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCYT) has entered into a long-term strategic collaboration with Johnson and Johnson Innovation LLC and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) to advance the development and commercialisation of novel diagnostic tests to detect lung cancer at its earliest stages, when the disease is most treatable, the company said.

The collaboration will build upon foundational "field of injury" science -- where genomic changes associated with lung cancer can be identified with a simple brushing of a person's airway -- to develop new interventions that can save lives.

Under terms of the agreement, Veracyte and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson and Johnson, whose mission is to prevent, intercept and cure lung cancer, will combine clinical study cohorts involving more than 5,000 patients with multiple years of clinical outcome data.

Veracyte will contribute bronchial and nasal samples from its clinical trials, which are part of the company's extensive lung cancer-focused biorepository.

Veracyte will deploy its RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, utilising high-dimensional data and machine learning pipelines on the combined cohort, providing the most comprehensive genomic content available which the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson and Johnson will have access to for therapeutic purposes.

The collaboration is expected to accelerate two key lung cancer programs for Veracyte.

First, the development of the first non-invasive nasal swab test for early lung cancer detection and, secondly, the commercialisation of its Percepta classifier on the company's RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, which, as a result of this collaboration, is expected to launch in the first half of 2019.

Veracyte (NASDAQ: VCYT) is a genomic diagnostics company that improves patient care by providing trustworthy and actionable answers to challenging clinical questions.

The company's products uniquely combine advanced genomic technology, clinical science and machine learning to provide answers that give physicians and patients a clear path forward, informing both diagnosis and treatment decisions without the need for costly, risky surgeries that are often unnecessary. 

Since its founding in 2008, Veracyte has commercialized three genomic tests, which are transforming the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Veracyte is based in South San Francisco, California.