Assay used to select patients for Selzentry, other anti-HIV medications.

Pfizer will continue its collaboration with Monogram Biosciences through December 31, 2010, to use the Trofile assay developed by Monogram to help select patients for a Pfizer anti-HIV medication.

The agreement will be extended to allow Monogram’s assay to be used to help find patients who may benefit from Selzentry, and may be continued on a year-by-year basis until December 2014.

“The adjustments to our collaboration with Pfizer strengthen the platform for commercialization of Trofile and indicate Pfizer’s ongoing support for Trofile, which is the clinically validated method of selecting patients for CCR5 antagonists such as Selzentry,” says William Young, Monogram CEO. “We are pleased to be continuing our collaboration with Pfizer outside of the U.S.”

The screening technology may also be used in the new entity created by Pfizer in its joint collaboration with Glaxosmithkline, Monogram reports, after new language in the agreement assigned rights to the assay to the merger.

Selzentry is a second-line treatment designed to reduce the amount of HIV infection by blocking the CCR5 receptor, according to Pfizer. Patients are asked to take a blood test given by their doctors to see whether they have the CCR5-trophic variant of the virus.ADNFCR-2184-ID-19174312-ADNFCR

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