Date: 2012-02-07
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: diagnostic tests to support clinical trials related to Tocagen\'s viral gene therapy (Toca 511 & Toca FC)
Company: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics (USA), subsidiary of Siemens AG (Germany) Tocagen (USA)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D
development
commercialisation
Action mechanism:
Disease: brain cancer
Details: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics continues to strengthen its positions in the areas of personalized medicine and companion diagnostics. Complementing its move into next-generation sequencing, the company has just established two new partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to offer clinical trial expertise as well as diagnostic test development and commercialization. A new companion diagnostics partnership has been concluded with Tocagen.The Siemens - Tocagen relationship will begin with diagnostic tests to support clinical trials related to Tocagen\'sviral gene therapy (Toca 511 & Toca FC) under investigation for the treatment of primary brain cancer, followed by potential commercialization of diagnostic tests for therapy monitoring, subject to FDA approval. Tocagen is enrolling patients in its clinical trials of Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec), for injection & Toca FC (flucytosine), extended-release tablets. These multicenter, open-label studies(3) are in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma, such as those with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM, Grade 4), who have had prior surgery and chemoradiation. Toca 511 is a retroviral replicating vector (RRV) that is designed to deliver a cytosine deaminase (CD) gene selectively to cancer cells. After allowing time for the administered Toca 511 to spread through the tumor, those cancer cells expressing the CD gene may convert the antibiotic flucytosine into the anti-cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In these studies, patients receive multiple cycles of oral Toca FC. Tocagen plans to work with Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics on the assays used during these clinical studies. Subject to FDA approval, Siemens may commercialize diagnostic tests capable of monitoring patient levels of Toca 511 and Toca FC. The other partnership has been concluded with ViiV Healthcare.
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