- Predictive Oncology subsidiary TumorGenesis developing new PDx models needed to understand the complexities of cancer
- Tremendous unmet need for patient-derived tumors (PDx) for new drug development – current mouse models unreliable
- TumorGenesis unique in the industry; its ovarian-cancer cells haven’t been widely available like most other PDx samples
- Multi-billion-dollar market opportunity
As the precision-medicine industry continues to integrate technology to improve the efficiency and efficacy of its strategies, clinicians are realizing the need for actual patient samples to determine the best methods to defeat cancer. Researchers are now turning to patient-derived tumors (PDx) to better understand the complexities and vagaries of the disease which has become the new focus in cancer research. Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) is executing on its mission to deliver cutting-edge services for the oncology research and profiling market. The company’s subsidiary, TumorGenesis, was formed in 2018 with a mission to create reliable, reproducible and translatable cancer cell capture, culture and screening using lab-ready to use technologies.
TumorGenesis will build kits used in cancer research laboratories around the world. Kits, media and cells are valued today at $2.8 billion growing at CAGR 12.9% to $6.8 billion by 2025.Predictive Oncology believes TumorGenesis’ novel PDx platform will provide pharmaceutical and biotech companies the tools needed to identify, understand and attack tumors. Through the work of TumorGenesis on PDx profiles, Predictive Oncology intends to become an important conduit for rapid drug identification, development and approvals – objectives worth billions in the space.
PDx models have proved to be a critical component of early cancer detection and the global research community has focused efforts on mastering the complexities of cancer and moving rapidly to PDx models to do so. There’s now a major emphasis in cancer research to learn more about cancer’s origins and find ways to identify early that cancer is present and then prevent or treat cancer cells and cancer cell colonies in their infancy, long before overt symptoms of cancer reveal themselves. Certain cancers like ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancers as well as many others, are highly metastatic, have little if any treatment options and little reliable way of early detection.
However, to study cancer cells, they must be isolated and perpetuated: in short, immortalized. Unfortunately, this process created more aberrations of the genetics of the isolated cancer cells. The isolation or “immortalization” of these cancer cell lines also created what researchers call homogeneous cancer colonies, meaning the cancer cells all behaved the same way.
Tumors are not homogeneous but are heterogeneous and other researchers have found that the homogeneous cell lines are also admixed with clonal variants that can rapidly mutate even further, confounding research. Tumors and cancer cells are much more complex than originally perceived.
Everyone in the cancer research community has now focused efforts on mastering the culturing of cancer cells and preserving their in vivo (in patient) characteristics. The goal is to successfully grow in the laboratory and subsequently implanted in mice or rats (PDx Mouse and PDx Rat), a tumor that accurately represents the patient’s tumor. TumorGenesis is rapidly developing its technology in this multibillion-dollar industry of Patient Derived Tumors (PDx), the focus of all pharmaceutical, biotech, government and independent research institutes around the world.
TumorGenesis currently has 25 ovarian-cancer cell types that have been validated utilizing PDx samples. The company’s program includes plans to isolate these ovarian-cancer cell types and study their response to drugs, which is unique in the industry as these ovarian-cancer cells haven’t been widely available like almost all other PDx samples. This gives POAI, via TumorGenesis, a striking competitive advantage which can be measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. Using its unique PDx samples then screening drugs and drug combinations against its extensive library of ovarian-cancer cell types, TumorGenesis is building the kits that are desperately needed facilitate the development of new, more effective drugs that are created in response real human cancer cells. Through its utilization of PDx models, TumorGenesis’ work has synergistically supported Predictive Oncology’s quest to deliver the necessary tools to defeat ovarian cancer first then move to all other cancer sub-types. This is Predictive Oncology’s overarching strategy, delineated in its CancerQuest2020 initiative.
Predictive Oncology is a data and AI-driven discovery services company that provides predictive models of tumor drug response to improve clinical outcomes for patients. POAI is at the vanguard of the latest scientific endeavors in cancer research: to better understand the complexities of individual cancers and tailor individualized therapeutic protocols. In addition to providing the molecular information necessary to help deliver on the promise of personalized medicine, the comprehensive molecular information delivered by Predictive Oncology is of enormous value to Pharma in new drug development and the PDx models developed by TumorGenesis may provide the pathways for Pharma to find successful solutions to the scourge of cancer.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Predictive-Oncology.com
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