FACTBOX-New diagnostic tests get personal

March 30 (Reuters) - Patients are finally starting to reap some of the benefits of personalized medicine as drug and diagnostic companies begin to use newly-acquired genetic information to develop so-called companion diagnostics -- tests used to tailor drugs to a patient's specific genetic makeup.

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers projects sales of diagnostic tests that analyze molecules like DNA or the chemical messenger RNA to double to $5 billion in 2012.

Here are some ways companies are benefiting from companion diagnostics.

* Roche (ROG.VX), best known for its cancer drugs, has built companion diagnostics into its drug development pipeline. Daniel O'Day of the company's diagnostics division says the company now has a companion diagnostics strategy for each drug in its development pipeline.

* Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N) is teaming up with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) to develop a genetic test to help select patients for future clinical trials of a pill for non-small cell lung cancer, known as PF-02341066. Abbott recently cut a similar deal with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) to develop a molecular diagnostic test to find patients who might benefit from MAGE-A3 ASCI, an experimental skin cancer treatment.

* Dako Denmark recently won European regulatory approval for tests to identify patients with metastatic stomach cancer who may benefit from treatment with Roche's Herceptin, known generically as trastuzumab.

* Sequenom Inc (SQNM.O) cut a licensing deal in February to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests to predict genetic predisposition to late stage age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness. It hopes to launch a new test early in 2011.

* Qiagen (QGEN.DE) (QGEN.O) is developing a test looking at variations in a cancer gene PI3K based on studies done at Johns Hopkins University that found mutations in the gene can help identify which patients are most likely to benefit from certain drugs for lung, breast, colorectal and other cancers. The company has a similar deal with Pfizer to develop a companion diagnostic for its experimental drug PF-04948568, a vaccine for the brain tumor glioblastoma.

* A gene-based test called Oncotype DX made by Genomic Health Inc (GHDX.O) helps identify breast cancer patients who are not likely to benefit at all from chemotherapy. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago, editing by Maggie Fox and Claudia Parsons)