Biocartis announces that its researchers, in collaboration with researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and at Philips Research, are developing a novel workflow for extraction and amplification and detection of tumor DNA on Biocartis diagnostic platforms. Biocartis retains its full IP rights, with access to IP created during the scope of this collaboration. The availability of this test is expected to have a major impact on personalizing treatment of tumors, increasing the quality of clinical care and the quality of life for the patient. Individual decisions on treatment duration and intensity will be in reach and ultimately, this could allow drugs to be targeted to only those patients who show meaningful response, reducing unnecessary side-effects and improving effectiveness.
Cancer is caused by the accumulation of genetic damage (mutations) in cells within a particular organ. These mutations are only found in the cancerous cells, and therefore could be used to monitor the tumor load during treatment, and rapidly evaluate treatment response.
Dr Patrick van den Bogaard, Director of Life Science Research at Biocartis SA comments: “The system will use disposable, microfluidic cartridges with digitally encoded micro particles for the rapid and sensitive detection of multiple DNA samples. The test aims to be highly specific and sensitive, being able to isolate and detect just a few molecules of tumor DNA per mL of blood. To implement such tests in a real-world healthcare system requires development of fully automated, high multiplexing diagnostic instruments and technology which is the core focus of Biocartis.”
Date: May 25, 2012
Source: Biocartis
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
