31 Mar 2010 07:00
31 March 2010
Source BioScience plc
('Source BioScience' or 'the Company')
Source BioScience signs agreement with AstraZeneca to provide genetic testing service for lung cancer
Source BioScience plc (LSE: SBS), the provider of expert, quality services to the life science research, pharma biotech and healthcare sectors, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca UK Marketing Company under which the Company will provide a companion diagnostic genetic testing service for lung cancer patients in the UK only.
This service to medicine will be funded by AstraZeneca and will allow clinicians in the NHS to identify whether lung cancer sufferers have activating mutations in their tumours making them sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies. Knowledge of the genetic status of the cancer will help clinicians determine the most appropriate therapy regime for lung cancer patients.
The service will be conducted from Source BioScience's laboratories in Nottingham, UK. Each sample will undergo full pathology review prior to genetic testing, which will enable the tumour status to be determined; ensure that only tumour tissue is analysed and will guarantee the highest quality of diagnostic analysis and reporting. Results will be returned to the clinicians within five working days.
Dr Nick Ash, Managing Director at Source BioScience said: "We are delighted to enter this agreement with AstraZeneca and join the laboratories providing this type of diagnostic testing. It is our strategy to expand the range of diagnostic tests we provide and also migrate our extensive experience in genetic analysis into diagnostic testing for healthcare. To support this we maintain first class laboratory accreditations including Clinical Pathology Accreditation ('CPA') for our molecular genetics services.
"Increasing demand for targeted therapies to improve treatment success and reduce costs is generating greater demand for companion diagnostics to accompany those therapies. The market for cancer diagnostics during 2010 is predicted to be in the region of £4 billion with an increasing requirement for molecular diagnostics based on genetic analysis. If we are able to provide better diagnostic information for clinicians, this will help ensure that treatment pathways are managed more effectively, positively impacting the clinical outcome and cost effectiveness of therapy."
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For further information, please contact:
Source BioScience Dr Nick Ash, Managing Director Tel: +44 (0) 115 973 9010nick.ash@sourcebioscience.com
Bishopsgate Communications Nick Rome / Gemma O'Hara Tel: + 44 (0) 207 562 3350 www.bishopsgatecommunications.com
About Source BioScience:
Source BioScience (LSE: SBS) is a highly focused healthcare and biotechnology company providing diagnostic and screening services to the healthcare community and genetic analyses and biomolecular tools and products to the life science research and pharma biotech sectors.
Its Healthcare operations provide screening and reference laboratory diagnostic testing for cancer and other diseases and additional predictive testing for treatment optimisation for clinicians and patients. Pharma Biotech Services offers support for early stage therapeutic development, offering a 'one-stop shop' from tissue pathology, immunohistochemistry, sophisticated image analysis, biomarker determination and assay development to pharmacogenomics including genotyping and gene expression analysis. Life Science Research services provide core laboratory research support from conceptualization to implementation, calling upon a wide range of cutting-edge technology platforms including an online catalogue of biomolecular tools. This incorporates DNA sequencing, whole genome amplification and a comprehensive library of genomic reagents and clones including cDNA and RNAi, as well as facilitating rapid access to high quality antibodies, cell cultures, diagnostic assays for cancer and other genetic testing, and related research tools.
The Group has its headquarters in Nottingham, UK where it operates state of the art reference laboratory facilities, with additional laboratory facilities in London, Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin, Ireland. Source BioScience is CPA, GLP and GCP accredited and is licensed by the Human Tissue Authority.
Further information about Source BioScience can be found at www.sourcebioscience.com
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines. As a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease medicines, AstraZeneca generated global revenues of US $32.8 billion in 2009. For more information please visit: www.astrazeneca.com
About companion diagnostics and Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors
Companion diagnostic tests are based on a biomarker (which may be a protein, DNA or RNA molecule), the presence or absence of which is associated with the likely efficacy of a drug or other treatment. Companion diagnostics are useful in stratifying patients into groups which are known to respond in a particular way to a drug.
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors ('TKI') are drug agents that target certain receptors expressed on the surface of cancer cells. Abnormalities of these receptors are often responsible for the uncontrolled growth of tumour cells. One such receptor is EGFR. The presence in a tumour of certain mutated forms of the EGFR gene can result in the expression of EGFR receptors on the surface of the tumour cells that are resistant to TKI therapy. Other mutations of the same gene may render this receptor more sensitive to TKI. It is therefore important to be able to provide very accurate genetic testing to identify which mutations may be present in a particular cancer patient, prior to deciding on treatment.