UPDATE: Biogen in Pact with Adaptive Biotech for Immune Test

Adaptive Biotechnologies announced today that it has signed an agreement with Biogen Idec

for the study of the immune repertoire and the search for immunological biomarkers in difficult to treat autoimmune diseases.  Under the collaboration, Adaptive's proprietary immune profiling assay, immunoSEQ, will be used to characterize the immune repertoire of patient samples with autoimmune disorders with high unmet medical needs.  The immunoSEQ assay uses high throughput next-generation sequencing to characterize the repertoire of T and B cell receptors, which can be very useful to monitor the immune status of patients with autoimmune diseases and to assess the impact of treatments that impact or alter the immune system. "We are delighted to collaborate with Biogen Idec to help further characterize the immune status of patients with autoimmune diseases who are often quite heterogeneous and therefore, difficult to treat without a more personalized approach," said Chad Robins, CEO and Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies.  "Partnering with Biogen Idec fits squarely with Adaptive's dual commitment to a deeper understanding of complex diseases as well as to finding better means to treat them."