Kinaxo contributes quantitative phosphoproteomics platform to find a drug to treat pancreatic cancer

27 February 2009

German company Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH has announced that it has been awarded a grant by the Bavarian Research Foundation (Bayerische Forschungsstiftung) to expand applications for its quantitative phosphoproteomics platform to contribute to a drug efficacy study to find a treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Quantitative phosphoproteomics enables analysis of the phosphoproteome, which includes all phosphorylation events occurring in a specific cell line or tissue. Since the majority of targeted small molecules used as anticancer drugs influence the cell’s signal transduction pathways, quantification of phosphorylation patterns in relation to drug administration delivers insights into a compound’s cellular mode of action.

Moreover, non-responsiveness to a multitude of compounds is a fundamental problem in cancer treatment. Quantitative phosphoproteomics is a powerful method to unveil the mechanisms of both cellular resistance and a drug’s effect. It can also be a valuable tool to discover predictive biomarkers that foretell the therapeutic outcome in a patient which in turn allows a targeted therapy approach.

To develop new methods for individualized tumour therapy in pancreatic cancer, Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH has now joined an interdisciplinary collaboration with Priaxon AG, Genomatix Software GmbH, the Technical University Munich and the University Hospital “Rechts der Isar” to perform a large-scale drug efficiency study.

Despite the fact that several small molecules show significant promise for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, so far no considerable breakthroughs have been achieved.

Pancreatic cancer shows a mortality rate of 95%, with crucial tumour-relevant processes being very poorly understood and only a vanishing number of patients responding to standard therapies.

Therefore, the aim of the collaboration is to establish tools for identifying tumour-relevant signal transduction pathways and therapeutic targets.

Kinaxo will use its quantitative phosphoproteomics approach to evaluate the efficacy of established and new compounds for pancreatic cancer treatment and to try to identify predictive biomarkers that facilitate the design and monitoring of individualized therapeutic strategies.

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