NEW YORK (360Dx) – Pelago Bioscience today announced it has been granted SEK3.6 million ($429,000) to use its technology to identify new oncology biomarkers for treating childhood leukemia.
The Swedish firm will use its CETSA technology to profile the effects of a drug on up to 6,000 proteins from patient blood samples in order to identify biomarkers associated with best clinical outcomes for six commonly used cancer drugs, it said.
CETSA, short for cellular thermal shift assay, provides a quantitative measurement of target engagement "adding real value to existing efficacy assays," the firm said on its website. Pelago was spun out from the Karolinksa Institute in 2013.
The company will offer its technology initially as a service. Additionally, studies will "identify key components of the finger print and reduce the number of proteins that need to be assessed," enabling the development of a routine diagnostic assay, it added.
Pelago noted that current treatment regimens are based on therapies that were developed for adult cancers, and little information is available to guide the appropriate regiment for children. As a result, issues exist concerning clinical efficacy and toxicity.
Swelife is an innovation program funded by the Swedish government. Earlier this week, Immunovia said it received a SEK4.9 million follow-on Swelife grant for development studies of its Immray PanCan-d test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer.