Iceland Genomics Corporation and ACLARA Collaborating on Cancer Biomarkers

07-Dec-2004

Iceland Genomics Corporation (IGC) have entered into an agreement with ACLARA BioSciences under which ACLARA will utilize its proprietary eTag(TM) assays to analyze tumor samples from cancer patients provided by IGC to validate candidate biomarkers and their utility as indicators of disease progression and as predictors of a likely response of individual patients to particular therapies.

Under the agreement, Iceland Genomics will provide to ACLARA tumor and blood samples and blinded patient data, including treatment histories and outcomes. ACLARA will test the samples with its eTag assays to help validate the parameters measured as biomarkers. ACLARA will provide funding to IGC, and will share the data from the study with IGC for incorporation into its database.

Dana Hosseini, chief executive officer of Iceland Genomics, said, "We believe ACLARA's eTag assays offer a unique view of the molecular processes driving cell proliferation and tumor growth. We are pleased to be collaborating with ACLARA, and helping to demonstrate the tremendous potential for eTag technology. There is clearly a need for better methods to assess cancer patients, both from a preferred treatment and ultimate prognosis perspective. We look forward to the results of this study, and seeing how they correlate with other measures used to evaluate these samples at Iceland Genomics."

The biomarkers under evaluation are proteins and protein complexes, and importantly, their different functional or activation states that comprise signaling pathways in cells. These pathways enable information transfer within and between cells, and control such processes as cell growth, division and death. When these pathways malfunction, the affected cells can become cancerous, dividing uncontrollably. Several approved targeted therapies, such as Iressa(R), Herceptin(R) and Avastin(R), and many others in development, act on the proteins within these pathways. By measuring the targeted proteins and pathways directly, ACLARA believes it can help physicians better determine whether certain therapies are more appropriate for individual cancer patients.

"We are excited to be working with Iceland Genomics since the extensive pedigrees of the Icelandic population, along with the detailed patient histories and samples that IGC has collected, are a powerful resource that can help facilitate answering critical questions in medicine, and oncology in particular," said Sharat Singh, ACLARA's chief technical officer. "With success, we look forward to a potentially broader collaboration with IGC, and ultimately to the utilization of these biomarkers in clinical practice."

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/41447/iceland-genomics-corporation-and-aclara-collaborating-on-cancer-biomarkers.html