NEW YORK (360Dx) – Inotrem said today that it has entered an R&D agreement with Roche Diagnostics to collaborate on developing a companion diagnostic test for a septic shock treatment in clinical trials.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roche and Inotrem will develop a prototype assay for quantitative measurement of soluble plasma circulating protein (sTREM-1) in septic shock patient samples. The test would run on Roche's Elecsys immunochemistry platform.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
sTREM-1 is a marker of the activation of the TREM-1 immune amplification pathway. High sTREM-1 plasma concentrations have been shown to be associated with a negative outcome in septic shock patients, and measurement of the marker in blood could provide a valuable indicator for the diagnosis and prediction of septic shock outcomes in patients, Inotrem said.
Inotrem is conducting a clinical Phase II trial to demonstrate the benefit of its lead compound Motrem (LR12), an inhibitor of the TREM-1 pathway, in the treatment of septic shock. The collaboration with Roche Diagnostics could lead to a companion diagnostic supporting the development of Motrem, Inotrem said.
Jean-Claude Gottraux, head of Roche Diagnostics' centralized and point-of-care solutions, said in a statement that this is the first time the firm's diagnostics division is collaborating with a start-up biotech company.
He noted that the collaboration with Inotrem is an opportunity to participate in the "opening of a new front in critical-care medicine, particularly in an area known for its difficult and highly heterogeneous population in septic shock.”