XDx, Inc. has signed a collaborative pharmacogenomics agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb focused on identifying biomarkers for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) for clinical diagnostic purposes associated with the development of BMS' rheumatoid arthritis drug Orencia.

XDx will receive an upfront payment in addition to success-based milestone payments. XDx will receive commercial rights to certain diagnostic applications resulting from the collaboration.

“This collaborative agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb further underscores our leadership in gene expression technologies and analysis applied to molecular diagnostics and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to patients battling serious immune-mediated disorders such as lupus,” said Pierre Cassigneul, president and chief executive officer, XDx. “We are pleased to be working with our new partners at Bristol-Myers Squibb and we intend to continue leveraging our R&D, clinical, and bioinformatics capabilities through partnerships to further demonstrate the utility of our innovative biomarker identification technologies and diagnostic work in autoimmune disease.”