Abraxis BioScience Inc. said it has made an exclusive agreement with the University of Southern California to develop and market protein biomarkers used in diagnosing some types of colon cancer.

The deal is mainly for the licensing of the intellectual property from USC research by Associate Professor of Medicine Heinz-Joseph Lenz and colleagues, the Los Angeles-based biotech firm said in a release.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Abraxis said the deal could lead to better predictions of how an individual will respond to therapy and the survival rate for patients with certain types of the deadly cancer.

“This type of research is only the beginning as we embark upon the future of personalized medicine and empower physicians to provide customized therapy for each patient they treat,” Abraxis’ Chief Executive Patrick Soon-Shiong said in a statement.

Shares in Abraxis were down 24 cents, or 1 percent, to $22.56 in afternoon trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq.