First patient enrolled in clinical utility study
Oxford, UK, 9th November 2016 Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd (OCB), the UK-based company developing tests that allow medicines to be personalised for the benefit of the cancer patient, has today announced that the first colorectal cancer patient was enrolled in the PRECISE trial featuring the ColoTox Assay.
The PRECISE trial; ‘Predicting, Recording and rEducing Chemotherapy Induced Side Effects’: a pilot feasibility study of a new germline genetic test for the risk of toxicity with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. The ColoTox assay improves the patient pathway in the treatment of colorectal cancer, by improving safety.
OCB has developed a suite of diagnostic tests for colorectal cancer (CRC) to personalise current treatment pathways and plans to develop similar tests for other cancer indications. The ColoTox test assesses the likelihood that the patient will suffer from life threatening toxicity, permitting the clinical team to make a priori dose reduction and lessen the chance of serious side effects and even chemotherapy induced death. Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK behind breast, lung and prostate cancer. Over 40,000 new cases are diagnosed in the UK every year and over 15,000 prove fatal.
Prof David Kerr, Chief Medical Officer of OCB, commented “This is a very exciting time for OCB and the future of personalised cancer medicine. Our ColoTox test will align a widely used cancer chemotherapy treatment with the patients who are most likely to benefit, and reduce the chance of unwanted side-effects. It will be of great importance to colorectal cancer patients”.
OCB’s Investors include Longwall Venture Partners, Esperante and the University.
About Oxford Cancer Biomarkers
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers translates ground-breaking scientific discovery into predictive biomarker diagnostic products that allow medicines to be personalised for the benefit of the cancer patient. Oxford Cancer Biomarkers is a spin-out of the University of Oxford and has strong links with the Medical Sciences Division in Oxford University. The company was founded by Nick La Thangue, Ph.D., Chair of Cancer Biology at Oxford University and David Kerr, CBE, D.Sc., M.D. FMedSci, Professor of Cancer Medicine at Oxford University. OCB’s investors include Longwall Venture Partners and Esperante.
For more information, please visit: http://www.oxfordcancerbiomarkers.com
About Longwall Venture Partners LLP
Longwall Venture Partners LLP manages £70m of Enterprise Capital Funds from which it invests in innovative, UK based, early stage companies in the healthcare, science and engineering sectors.
About Esperante
Esperante is a privately held life science venture investment company focussed on therapeutics and in vitro clinical diagnostics with a portfolio of 13 therapeutics and 3 diagnostics companies principally in the UK and USA
Contact details
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd
Tel: +44 1865 784743
Nick La Thangue, CEO / David Oxlade, Chairman
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