Lab21 to provide AdnaGen’s tumour cell detection system UK and
Ireland
26 August 2009
Lab21 Ltd and AdnaGen AG have entered into an exclusive service and
distribution agreement for AdnaGen’s proprietary circulating tumour cell
diagnostic assays in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These tests are
based on the capture of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from blood and
subsequent detection of tumour-associated biomarkers.
Cancer diagnostics is a fast evolving and rapidly growing segment of
in-vitro diagnostics. The high prevalence and mortality rates rank
cancer amongst the world’s most disabling and deadly diseases. Cancer is
the second most deadly condition, affecting over 25 million people
worldwide, with more than 10 million new cases diagnosed worldwide
annually.
The cost of treating cancer creates a serious pressure on global
healthcare budgets. These data prime the need for improved diagnostics
that either provide a diagnosis at an earlier stage or assist in better
therapy management.
The AdnaTest products for detection and analysis of CTCs from
metastatic breast cancer and metastatic colon cancer are tools to
improve disease prognosis and patient management. The tests rely on
immunomagnetic selection of tumour cells from blood followed by
detection of tumour-associated biomarkers using RT-PCR. The proprietary
AdnaGen approach has the clear advantage that it does not solely rely on
the detection of a single marker, but allows the detection of a broad
range of tumour molecular markers.
The AdnaTests can be applied in several distinct cancer diagnostic
areas. The first is for disease prognosis where persistence and/or and
increase in levels of CTCs indicate disease progression or poor outcome.
Secondly, analysis of CTCs provides a measure of the patient’s response
to treatment. Persistence or reappearance of CTCs may indicate the need
for additional or alternative treatment.
In addition, the biomarkers expressed in CTCs may provide insight
into which drug targets are present on distant metastases and,
therefore, which therapies may be effective. The reappearance of CTCs
months after therapy may provide an early indication that the patient
has relapsed.
Finally, measurements of biomarker expression(s) in Adna-tests have
the potential to significantly improve the drug development process and
commercialization of drug candidates by yielding safer drugs with
enhanced therapeutic efficacy in a faster and more cost-effective
manner.
Dr. Berwyn Clarke, Chief Scientific Officer, Lab21 Ltd commented:
“This agreement underscores our determination to exploit new and
emerging technologies in molecular diagnostics. Detecting circulating
tumour cells provides physicians a means to monitor therapy. Since
cancer is evolving from a fatal condition towards a chronic disorder,
Lab21 Ltd wants to position itself to offer tools for improved patient
management as well as cost control. We also see this as a key new
service to offer our pharmaceutical partners as they develop new
anti-cancer agents.”
Lab21 expects to be ready to launch the new service from its clinical
diagnostic service centre in Cambridge in October 2009.
Alex Weis, Chief Executive Officer of AdnaGen remarked: “We are very
pleased that Lab21 Ltd will be AdnaGen’s exclusive partner in
distributing our proprietary tumour diagnostics in the United Kingdom
and Ireland. This is an important milestone in our efforts to achieve
significant revenue traction with the objective of Company profitability
in 2010. Lab21 Ltd has proven its competence in bringing novel
diagnostics successfully into the in-vitro diagnostics market. We are
confident that the partnership with Lab21 Ltd will further expand our
effort to commercialize molecular tests for variety of cancers that
allow physicians and patients to individualize treatment decisions.”
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