Guardant Health declared a long-term association with Pfizer Oncology to support several clinical trial programs. Guardant360^® assay will be the preferred circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test for liquid biopsy specimens collected in various Pfizer clinical trials after this non-exclusive agreement.

Most often, clinical trial progress is delayed because of the need to collect tumor tissue samples for genotyping, further impeding trial enrolment and easy collection of critical data. Comprehensive analysis of genomic alterations in cancer found in ctDNA obtained via a simple blood draw can eliminate the need for an invasive biopsy to acquire a tissue specimen. This not only fastens trial enrolment, but also allows for rapid insights into patient response and the underlying tumor evolution, providing a deeper understanding of tumor and therapy biology and the mechanisms of drug resistance.

"We are thrilled to be going beyond our previously announced collaboration with Pfizer on GuardantOMNI to now establish a long-term alliance that more broadly supports the Pfizer Oncology pipeline." said Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health's CEO and co-founder. "We believe the rapid insights ctDNA can provide in clinical trials of targeted therapies will speed the development of drugs in Pfizer Oncology's pipeline to bring safe and effective therapies to patients sooner."

The Guardant360 assay is the most widely utilized comprehensive liquid biopsy. First introduced in 2014, it has since been ordered more than 40,000 times by more than 3,500 oncologists.