Akoya Biosciences, a Marlborough firm analyzing tissues for therapy research, has signed a collaboration with the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California San Francisco.
Akoya, which announced the collaboration Wednesday, said it will work with UCSF on a trial designed to quickly screen promising experimental treatments and identify those most effective in specific patient subgroups based on molecular characteristics. Akoya and UCSF will use Akoya’s technology to identify immunotherapeutics for patients with early breast cancer.
The idea of this type of research, Akoya said, is to better understand the biological drivers behind cancer, and how specific treatments may affect each patient. So-called biomarkers, which Akoya looks for, indicate a disease. Akoya’s technology is able to quantify more than 40 such markers.
The trial Akoya is taking part in includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, clinicians from more than 20 major American cancer research centers and others.
