Novigenix SA Switzerland, a pioneer in Immuno-Transcriptomics for precision medicine today announced that a consortium, including PamGene International BV and Radboud University (The Netherlands), has been awarded a grant up to €1 million to develop a blood-based multi-omics test to predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become one of the main treatments for patients with metastatic cancer. Although ICIs are highly effective with durable results in some patients, only a minority respond and benefit from ICIs. Thus, there is a significant unmet medical need for accurate liquid biopsy solutions for selecting patients for ICI therapy.
The aim of the consortium is to develop a novel in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) liquid biopsy test for accurate prediction of response to ICIs, leveraging a unique multi-omics approach of combining mRNA and kinase activity profiling. The biomarker development strategy is based on whole blood transcriptome and kinome profiling technologies. Moreover, the consortium will take advantage of the most advanced machine learning methods to develop and validate the AI-based multi-omics signatures.
The members of the consortium have recently generated preliminary promising data for predicting response to anti-PD1 in metastatic urothelial cancer (UC). Novigenix leverages its core competencies in Immuno-Transcriptomics and provides artificial intelligence solutions for the development of multi-omic biomarkers and predictive algorithms. PamGene will provide its unique expertise in kinome technology, and the group of Dr Niven Mehra, Department of Medical Oncology at Radboud University, will lead a clinical network for prospective collection of biological specimens and data interpretation.
‘This Eurostars project combines excellent, world-leading science and technologies in a consortium dedicated to developing the first high-performance multi-modal liquid biopsy test for the prediction of anti-PD1 response in UC patients,’ said Dr Brian Hashemi, Executive Chairman of Novigenix. ‘The high Eurostars review score placed the project in the top 5% of its peers, and we believe its completion can significantly improve personalised ICI therapy for better patient outcomes and health economics.’
