Cancer
Personalized Medicine Company Wins Nebraska Governor's Bioscience Award
Omaha-based Transgenomic, which provides biotechnology products and services globally to advance personalized medicine, is the winner of the 2013 Nebraska Governor’s Bioscience Award. Gov. Dave Heineman presented the award Tuesday to Transgenomic President and CEO Craig Tuttle at the Bio Nebraska Life Sciences Association annual meeting, held at the Gallup Corporation’s Omaha campus. “Transgenomic is an example of the life science gems we have in our state,” Heineman...
National Health Service in UK Debuts New Multi-gene Cancer Diagnostic
The National Health Service, a publicly-funded healthcare system in the United Kingdom, announced that it adopted a new multi-gene sequencing system to help predict cancer patients’ responses to treatment. According to a press release by Oxford, the multi-gene test can detect mutations in 46 different genes that are associated with the growth of cancerous tumors. By determining which mutation of a gene is present in a patient, healthcare providers can choose the most-appropriate...
International Joint Venture to Develop Novel Lung Cancer Dx
A new joint international venture hopes to breathe commercial life into a technology that tests human breath for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Alpha Szenszor of Carlisle, MA aim to combine their expertise in order to develop a noninvasive digital system for detecting lung cancer from exhaled volatile organic compounds. The Technion’s Laboratory for Nanomaterial-Based Devices explores the use of advanced spectrometry and sensors to...
Task Force Issues Cervical Cancer Screening Recommendations
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released its final recommendation statement on cervical cancer screening, which includes several specific recommendations. After a systematic review of the available evidence, posting a draft recommendation statement for public comment, and considering the comments it received, the task force concluded: * Women aged 21 to 65 should be screened with cytology (common known as Pap smear) every three years. As an alternative, women aged 30 to 65 who want to...
Everist Genomics Develops Companion Diagnostics for Colorectal Cancer
Everist Genomics (EGI) announced the launch of the world's first comprehensive companion diagnostics and prognostics portfolio to improve early diagnosis, management and treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. The portfolio of four individual tests provides gene expression profiling and analysis of molecular markers to help physicians track tumor development and responsiveness to therapy, enabling personalized treatment across all stages of colorectal cancer. The tests will be available...
Genesys BioLabs Launches Lung Cancer Test
Genesys BioLabs announced the launch of PAULA’s test, a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer, addressing the need for a widely useable early detection protocol for asymptomatic patients. The test was introduced to several dozen Washington, DC area physicians during the past several weeks, including a group of lung cancer specialists who attended the Lung Cancer 2012 conference in Washington, D.C. “The reception we are receiving from doctors to our announcement of the...
Abbott to Develop Companion Diagnostic Test for Merck Cancer Therapy
Abbott will collaborate with Merck to evaluate the use of a FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization)-based companion diagnostic test to aid in the development of a Merck investigational cancer therapy. Under terms of the agreement, Abbott will develop a test based on its proprietary FISH technology, intended to identify deletions of the TP53 gene in cancer patients. The Abbott FISH assay will be evaluated in clinical trials to help identify patients more likely to respond favorably to Merck...
Parsortix, Paterson Institute Form Research Partnership
Angle plc announced that Parsortix Inc., its 90% owned portfolio company which specializes in cancer diagnostics, has signed a two year research agreement with the Cancer Research UK-funded Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, the University of Manchester’s world-leading cancer research institute. Angle will be working with the Paterson Institute’s Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group (CEP), which specialises in circulating tumour cells (CTCs). The Parsortix CTC research...
Biodesix, Kadmon Announce Clinical Trial Collaboration
Biodesix Inc. announced a collaboration with Kadmon Corporation LLC to explore the utility of Biodesix’ VeriStrat test in a Phase 3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) study of Kadmon’s KD019, a reversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) targeting EGFR, HER2, VEGFR2 & 3, and SRC. The Phase 3 study is designed to evaluate KD019 compared to erlotinib in patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC who have progressed after first- or second-line chemotherapy. It incorporates an exploratory...
Dako, Amgen Enter into Additional Companion Diagnostic Collaboration
Dako has entered into a new collaboration agreement with Amgen Inc. on the development of a diagnostic test for an Amgen cancer drug candidate in clinical development. “It is Dako’s mission to fight cancer. Hence, we are pleased to be chosen as Amgen’s partner once again for the development of companion diagnostics linked to Amgen’s investigational targeted therapies,” says Lars Holmkvist, Dako’s chief executive officer. In January 2012, Dako announced a...