HACKENSACK, N.J., Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Champions
Oncology, Inc. (CSBR), a company engaged in the development of
advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the
development and use of oncology drugs, today announced that it
entered into an agreement with a leading global pharmaceutical
company to incorporate the use of patient-derived xenograft (PDX)
models in the design and development of clinical trials across
their oncology drug portfolio. The deal underscores Champions
Oncology's philosophy that co-clinical PDX trials represent the
next-generation approach to the optimization of oncology drug
development. The scale and scope of these studies will
be significantly larger than any previous studies run by Champions
and are expected to contribute significantly to future revenue
growth.
Champions Oncology has unique experience in clinical operations,
having worked directly with more than 1,000 patients in the
development of personalized PDX (or Champions TumorGraft® models)
for oncology drug sensitivity testing. The Company's data, as
well as that of other academic researchers, have highlighted the
high degree of accuracy of PDX models in predicting response of
individual patients. This experience, combined with the
infrastructure needed to execute tumor collection and implantation
from clinical trial sites around the country makes Champions
uniquely positioned to deliver on these large studies.
"With demonstrated clinical correlation, we believe the routine
use of co-clinical PDX trials, in which a Champions TumorGraft
model is developed from a patient enrolled and treated in an
oncology clinical trial, affords a much deeper and timely
understanding of tumor response to experimental agents," said
Angela Davies, MD, Champions
Oncology Chief Medical Officer. "Once results from
patients participating in a traditional clinical trial have been
recorded, it is not feasible to perform additional hypothesis
testing. Each clinical trial patient yields only one data
point of response. A clinical trial strategy that incorporates
Champions TumorGraft PDX models established from trial participants
creates surrogate patients with validated clinical outcomes
data. They represent an invaluable, almost limitless resource
for understanding the genomic differences between responders and
non-responders, identifying mechanisms of resistance, and for
current and future hypothesis testing, enabling novel insights
linking benefits to therapies. All done at a fraction of the
cost of a clinical trial designed to test those variables in a new
cohort of patients," Dr. Davies continued.
In making the announcement, Joel
Ackerman, CEO at Champions Oncology, commented, "Results
from clinical trials often prompt investigators to ask a myriad of
follow on questions. It is very exciting to see that our
long-standing belief in the value of a co-clinical PDX approach,
which can answer those questions in a timely and cost-effective
manner relative to the cost of a new trial, is shared by large
pharma. The scope of this initial co-clinical PDX
collaboration indicates the industry is entering a new era of
clinical trial strategies. We are proud to be on the leading
edge of the use of PDX technology in the clinic for the translation
of new drugs, therapies and combinations that benefit
patients. From a commercial standpoint, this contract
represents a turning point in the commercial potential of our
platform."
About Champions Oncology
Champions Oncology, Inc. is engaged in the development of
advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the
development and use of oncology drugs. The company's
technology platform is a novel approach to personalizing cancer
care based upon the implantation of primary human tumors in immune
deficient mice followed by propagation of the resulting
engraftments, or Champions TumorGrafts, in a manner that preserves
the biological characteristics of the original human tumor in order
to determine the efficacy of a treatment regimen. The Company
uses this technology in conjunction with related services to offer
solutions for two customer groups: Personalized Oncology
Solutions, in which results help guide the development of
personalized treatment plans, and Translational Oncology Solutions,
in which pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking
personalized approaches to drug development can lower the cost and
increase the speed of developing new drugs. TumorGrafts are
procured through agreements with a number of institutions in the
U.S. and overseas as well as through Champions' Personalized
Oncology Solutions business. For more information, please visit
www.championsoncology.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/champions-oncology-leading-paradigm-shift-to-incorporation-of-pdx-models-into-clinical-trial-strategy-300192583.html
SOURCE Champions Oncology, Inc.