Date: 2013-03-13
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: diagnostic and prognostic microRNA biomarkers for prostate cancer
Company: Oxford Gene Technology (UK) Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) (UK)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism:
Disease: prostate cancer
Details: Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), provider of genetics research and biomarker solutions to advance molecular medicine, has announced that it has been granted a licence by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, to further develop and commercialise a new panel of diagnostic and prognostic microRNA biomarkers for prostate cancer. The agreement follows a three-year collaboration between OGT and the ICR resulting in the joint discovery of the microRNA biomarkers. These markers have wide-ranging potential applications in diagnosis, prognosis, treatment planning and patient monitoring.
Currently, the biomarker prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and a digital rectal examination are used to test for prostate cancer and to determine whether a biopsy is required. However, increasing evidence1 indicates that PSA may not be an effective screening tool for prostate cancer due to a high false positive rate and an inability to distinguish between more aggressive and indolent cancers. Unlike the present screening techniques, the biomarkers discovered by OGT and the ICR have a specificity of over 90% plus the potential to not only identify prostate cancer but also to assess its aggressiveness.
In addition to further validation of the biomarker panel in tissue samples, OGT is evaluating the panel in both blood and urine samples, with initial translation of the assay to blood-based PCR testing showing very encouraging results. OGT is currently reviewing potential options for future commercialisation, including making the resulting test available through OGT’s service laboratories.
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