CAMBRIDGE, U.K. and ALBANY, New York, July 13, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Clinomics Biosciences, Inc., the wholly owned US subsidiary of Cytomyx Holdings plc (AIM:CYX), a leading provider of drug discovery products and services, has signed a collaboration agreement with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, one of the leading cancer research centers in the US, to jointly develop new technologies for use in cancer research.
Known as Tissue MicroArrays, Clinomics' proprietary technology allows the identification of gene and protein expression patterns in tumors on a high-throughput basis. This data will be used to generate "molecular signatures", for more precisely defining cancer patient sub-groups which, in turn will lead to improved cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The initial phase of the research program will focus on the use of Tissue MicroArray methodologies to improve the diagnosis and classification of primary tumors, with the goal of improving treatment outcomes. The joint research will be conducted in the laboratories of the Moffitt Cancer Center, in Tampa, Florida.
Stephen Turner, Clinomics' CEO, said: "We are pleased to be collaborating with Moffitt, a leading, national cancer institute with a substantial molecular characterization program involved in cancer. Together with Clinomics, which has built the world's most extensive database of highly characterized human biology samples, we believe that an important new capability for classifying tumors will result from our collaboration with the goal of creating whole genome datasets on tumor samples and developing the leading gene expression database for pharmaceutical development."
Principle Investigator for the project is Timothy Yeatman MD, Associate Center Director, Clinical Investigations, at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Yeatman commented: "This is the beginning of an exciting new age in molecular medicine where cancer therapy will now be directed by a comprehensive molecular analysis of gene expression. Molecular signatures may be able to identify and predict the future biological behavior of different tissues or tumor types."
About Clinomics BioSciences, Inc.
Clinomics BioSciences, Inc., (www.clinomicsbio.com), based in Albany, New York, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cytomyx Holdings plc, offering database products for the biological characterization of gene and protein targets for use in drug discovery research. The company has a collection of more than 200,000 highly characterized human and biology samples and its proprietary Tissue MicroArray technology allows hundreds of individual tissue samples to be arrayed on microscope slides for use in gene and protein characterization studies.
About H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute is located in Tampa, Florida. In 2001 the National Cancer Institute awarded Moffitt the status of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in recognition of its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the USA's leading cancer centers, and is listed in the U.S. News & World Report as one of the top cancer hospitals in America. Moffitt's sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.
About Cytomyx Holdings plc
Cytomyx Holdings plc (www.cytomyx-holdings.com) is a rapidly growing life science company based in Cambridge, UK. Its four operating subsidiaries -- Cytomyx Ltd, Clinomics BioSciences, Inc., Cambridge Bioscience Ltd and Cytocell Technologies Ltd -- develop and market a wide range of products and services to the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and academic research markets. Cytomyx is listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
About Tissue MicroArrays
Clinomics BioSciences has pioneered the development of the emerging new technology known as Tissue MicroArrays (TMAs). These enable researchers to simultaneously study hundreds of individual tissue samples in parallel to establish the relative levels of protein expression in those samples and thereby draw conclusions as to the relevance of these proteins in disease. The Company currently has three granted US patents in this field.
TMAs overcome an important bottleneck in drug discovery, namely the high-throughput evaluation of proteins in human tissue samples. TMAs consist of up to 1000 tiny cylindrical tissue samples (usually 0.6mm in diameter) that are assembled in a paraffin block from which sections (thin slices) are then cut and attached to glass microscope slides.
TMA sections allow the simultaneous analysis of expression of a protein of interest in up to 1000 tissue samples in a single experiment. They are, therefore, cost-efficient and offer an unprecedented degree of standardization as all tissue samples are subjected to exactly the same experimental conditions. TMAs can be constructed from virtually all kinds of tissues, including formalin-fixed and fresh frozen tissue.
Pharmaceutical industry researchers can use TMA technology to link the presence of a particular protein to the progression of a disease. Another major application for the technology is in the development of therapeutic antibody products where they can be used to demonstrate that such antibodies are found only to bind to the protein to which they are intended to be directed.
TMA technology represents one of the most promising new approaches in the fields of proteomics and drug discovery. TMA use is growing rapidly among histology labs and recent reports indicate that the number of users has at least doubled each year over the past two years. The market for TMAs is expected to grow at more than 40% per year to reach over $150 million by 2008.
This information is provided by RNS
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