Biotech company Transgenomic’s niche is on the advancement of personalized medicine in cancer and inherited disease through the use of the company’s proprietary molecular technologies. In line with this focus, the company today announced it was awarded a patent license entitled “Method of Determining the Sensitivity of Cancer Cells to EGFR Inhibitors including Cetuximab, Panitumumab and Erlotinib,” which includes all tumor types and targeted therapies that may be influenced by the gene PIK3CA’s mutation status.
The patent was exclusively licensed by the Montefiore Medical Center, whose inventors, Drs. Sanjay Goel and John Mariadason, demonstrated that key mutations in PIK3CA serve as predictors for the efficacy of EGFR-targeted therapies.
Transgenomic has developed assays for complete detection of PIK3CA mutations using the company’s proprietary SURVEYOR® Scan, REVEAL® ICE COLD-PCR and BLOCker™-Sequencing solutions.
Craig Tuttle, CEO of Transgenomic, said that the number of genes associated with the effectiveness of targeted cancer treatments is increasing. In response, Transgenomic’s aim is to develop a complete portfolio of “best-in-class kits for clinically relevant mutations” by leveraging the company’s proprietary technologies.
“The recent issuing of this important patent is a significant milestone in the continued development of our genetic biomarker intellectual property portfolio,” Tuttle stated in the press release. “Since exclusively licensing this patent we have been able to effectively apply our high sensitivity mutation detection technologies, such as SURVEYOR Scan, REVEAL ICE COLD-PCR and BLOCker-sequencing, to PIK3CA assays in order to be able to detect genetic variations in very low mutant load samples, such as plasma, serum and circulating tumor cells.”
For more information visit www.transgenomic.com
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