BD's Progress in Molecular Markers

01 Sep 2001

Having already collaborated with Millennium Pharmaceuticals to find marker candidates for its molecular oncology program, BD is now tapping TriPath Imaging to help build an imaging system to analyze the markers. Its strategy of relying on partners means it has to give up some profits, but BD is confident that the results will yield a value high enough to make the program economically feasible. It's a model that other companies are likely to emulate as they move into molecular diagnostics.

More than two years ago, Becton Dickinson & Co. became the first company to sign a big-stakes diagnostics deal with Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. , investing unprecedented amounts of money in exchange for Millennium's yet-unproven expertise in finding high-value, patentable genomic markers for oncology. The agreement was noteworthy not only because of the amount of money involved—more than $70 million if it worked out—but because it exemplified a new paradigm for discovering new tests, the kind of strategy that had the potential to lead the diagnostics industry out of its slow-growth, low-margin cycle [See Deal]. (See "Becton Dickinson's Magic Markers," IN VIVO, May 1999 [A#1999800719].)

Now, in an indication of progress, BD has signed a strategic alliance with TriPath Imaging Inc. , to help...