On December 4, 2018 Cofactor Genomics, a clinical RNA sequencing and translational assay developer, reported a pilot study to evaluate use of Cofactor’s ImmunoPrismTM assay in Genocea Biosciences’ Phase 1/2a clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of its lead personalized cancer vaccine candidate, GEN-009, in adult cancer patients with a variety of solid tumors (Press release, Cofactor Genomics, DEC 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234531892]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
The pilot study is designed to enable Genocea to comprehensively characterize the immune responses that patients enrolled in the clinical trial generate in response to vaccination. The RNA-based assay developed by Cofactor should enable Genocea to compare the immune cell composition for 8 major immune types within and between patients, including expression reporting for key immune escape genes.
"We are working to develop truly effective personalized neoantigen vaccines with which to treat cancer patients. Through exploration of advanced technologies like Cofactor’s ImmunoPrism assay, we aim to better understand the intratumoral immune responses we are eliciting in response to our vaccine," said Jessica Baker Flechtner, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Genocea.
"Pilot studies such as this one, where our technology is implemented in the field to empower drug developers to find the most robust markers of therapeutic success, are extremely important in validating our cutting-edge technology," noted David Messina, Chief Operating Officer at Cofactor Genomics. "Demonstrating the utility of a new approach to immune profiling is best accomplished with partners like Genocea, who are eager to gain access to the most innovative and advanced assays."
Cofactor Genomics recently announced the release of their ImmunoPrism Immune Profiling Kit, which enables access to their proprietary molecular and machine-learning informatics for RNA analysis of the tumor microenvironment. The ImmunoPrism kit offers laboratories the ability to validate the assay, as Cofactor has done through their CAP-accredited laboratory.
Cofactor will present the results of this clinical validation work during an upcoming webinar titled, "Clinical Validation of a Multidimensional Pan-Cancer Immune Assay" on Thursday, December 13 at 11 AM EST: View Source