Singlera Genomics has entered into a research collaboration with Astellas Pharma to develop methylation-based tools to better understand biological reactions to pharmaceuticals using Singlera's mTitan platform, a company release said.

mTitan allows for the interrogation of rare circulating cell-free DNA methylation signals, and has previously been utilized to non-invasively detect cancer signals in blood four years prior to patients showing symptoms. By utilizing the platform in a pre-clinical drug development setting, this research collaboration aims to develop tools to obtain insights into biological responses during drug treatment.

"We are excited to collaborate with Astellas, a world leader in developing treatments for patients with unmet medical needs," said Qiang Liu, COO and co-founder of Singlera Genomics. "The use of Singlera's cutting-edge methylation technology in the drug development space will allow for a deeper understanding of the gene regulation consequences of therapeutic compounds."

Under the terms of the agreement, Singlera will design mTitan-based assays to aid in Astellas' preclinical drug development pipeline. The collaboration has the potential to result in a more rapid pipeline and aid in the development of effective therapies for patients with fewer side effects.