NEW YORK (360Dx) – MRM Proteomics said Wednesday it is partnering with Exactis Innovation to develop a proteomic test for guiding cancer immunotherapy.
The test will be based on MRM Proteomics' immunoMALDI approach, which uses antibody enrichment of target proteins followed by analysis via MALDI mass spec. The company said it will use the approach to analyze breast and colorectal cancer samples in Exactis’ Personalize My Treatment patient registry to identify and validate protein markers predictive of patient response to cancer immunotherapies.
In addition to being used to guide patient therapy, the markers could also prove useful for selecting patients for clinical trials, the company said.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Exactis is a Canadian nonprofit focused on recruiting cancer patients to clinical trials for targeted therapies. Patients recruited through the Personalize My Treatment registry agree to provide detailed molecular information about their cancer for storage in a digital biobank and to be contacted for future clinical trials that are a match for their characteristics.
"Proteins are the effectors of biological processes in the cells and the targets of most drugs, Christoph Borchers, chief science officer for MRM Proteomics, said in a statement. "We need to look to proteins for the next step in precision medicine."
"The proteomics field is rapidly evolving, making it possible to generate highly accurate and reproducible quantification of important oncogenic proteins to guide treatment. This project benefits from Exactis’ access to a large number of clinical samples and high-quality clinical data and represents a remarkable opportunity to realize the potential of proteomics in the clinic," added Claude Leduc, MRM Proteomics' president and CEO.