Selventa, a US-based company specialising in patient stratification for personalised medicine, has signed a multi-year research agreement with Janssen Research & Development focusing on immunological diseases.

The collaboration includes developing disease models using diverse biologic data to elaborate disease-relevant mechanisms and identify potential new drug discovery opportunities. No financial details were disclosed.

According to David de Graaf, president and chief executive officer of Selventa, a previous research project with an affiliate of Janssen R&D generated a joint publication that sought to identify genes associated with intestinal permeability after anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor) therapy in ulcerative colitis.

Selventa uses molecular patient data and computational methods to elucidate disease biology and identify patient subsets for personalised healthcare based on disease-driving mechanisms.

This work includes assessing single and combination therapies, segmenting potential responder and non-responder populations, evaluating alternative indications and optimising proof-of-concept trial design through stratification biomarker panels.