The Dept of Pathology at the Uppsala University Hospital evaluates Biotage's new Pyrosequencing® platform for clinical diagnostics in oncology PyroMarkTMQ24 is the new Biotage Pyrosequencing® platform, which is being launched in March. The Molecular Pathology at the Dept of Pathology, Uppsala University Hospital, is evaluating the new PyroMark Q24TM to implement the Pyrosequencing® technology in cancer diagnostics. Several novel drugs against the growth hormone receptor EGFR have been recently approved for the treatment of advanced colorectal- and lung cancer. The efficacy of all of these drugs is strongly connected to the mutation status of the gene k-ras. Many studies give evidence that patients with k-ras mutation do not response to EGFR-inhibitor treatment; in contrast patients without mutation are much more likely to benefit significantly from this therapy in these often fatal cancer forms. Biotage provides an established assay for the determination of this clinical relevant mutation. The assay determines contiguous, multi-variable mutations at codons 12 and 13 of the K-ras gene, as well as rare mutations in codon 61. Initial focus of the molecular pathology group is to test the k-ras assay on the new PyroMarkTMQ24 platform for clinical cancer diagnostics. Dr. Patrick Micke from the Dept of Pathology stresses the clinical importance to implement robust and sensitive molecular analyses in cancer diagnostics. “We have had good experience with the PyroMark system within a previous clinical research project. Therefore we were interested in extending the collaboration into clinical practice. As a result we are able to provide the mutation analysis already today for clinicians. In the next month we will carefully test the system and, in cooperation with other pathology centers, compare it to other methods.” “We are very pleased to collaborate with the Uppsala University Hospital. Our future strategy is to explore the diagnostic and clinical research market with our innovative solutions for genetic analysis. We believe that the new Biotage Pyrosequencing® platform together with new diagnostic kits is coming to play an important role in future genomic cancer diagnostics. Genomic analysis of cancer associated genes might predict prognosis, tendency of disease recurrence, or the response to different cancer therapies. The collaboration with Dr. Micke and his team is one of several efforts that we expect to lead into further future product developments.” says Torben Jørgensen, CEO & President of Biotage. Contact: Torben Jörgensen, President and CEO Tel: +46 707 49 05 84, torben.jorgensen@eu.biotage.com About Biotage Biotage is a global company active in life science research with strong technologies, a broad range of operations and a long-term view of the market. The company offers solutions, knowledge and experience in the areas of genetic analysis and medicinal chemistry. In 2005 operations and products were acquired from the American company Argonaut, further strengthening the medicinal chemistry product range. The customers include the worlds top 30 pharmaceutical companies, the worlds top 20 biotech companies, and leading academic institutes. The company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the U.S., Japan, UK, Germany and several other European countries. Biotage has 336 employees and had sales of 496,4 MSEK in 2007. Biotage is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB. Website: www.biotage.com About the Molecular Pathology Unit at the Department of Pathology: The molecular pathology facility provides a divisional resource for molecular testing of human tissue specimens with diagnostic purpose. Clinical activities include the molecular analyses of haematological and solid tumour malignancies, as well as the detection of oncogenic viral infections. Molecular testing can be applied as supplements for diagnostics but also to predict response to therapy or provide prognostic information. Additionally, the facility provides a state-o-the-art equipped platform to develop, evaluate and establish upcoming molecular analyses at the intersection of research and clinical application. The Molecular Pathology is located in the Rudbeck Laboratory that is a joint venture between Uppsala University Hospital and Uppsala University and a substantial investment in genetic and cancer research. It houses research groups in genetics, pathology, tumour biology, oncology, radiation science and immunology, as well as the clinical departments of pathology, clinical genetics and immunology. Website: www.rudbeck.uu.se
The Dept of Pathology at the Uppsala University Hospital evaluates Biotage's new Pyrosequencing® platform for clinical diagnostics in oncology
| Source: Biotage AB