Baltimore, MD, November 6, 2014 - Insilico Medicine, Inc, a Baltimore-based bioinformatics company focused on research in aging and age related diseases announced a research collaboration with the international leader in personalized medicine of cancer, Champions Oncology, Inc (OTC: CSBR).
"There are many companies utilizing advances in genomics for personalized medicine, but Champions Oncology's TumorGraft technology is unique in a way that it can validate the chemotherapy regimen experimentally generating vast amounts of valuable data. Our bioinformatic analysis showed that molecular signatures of patient tumor grafts in mice are very similar to signatures of cancer in patients before and after treatment. We established this research collaboration to further validate these preliminary findings", said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, CEO of Insilico Medicine, Inc.
Champions TumorGrafts are a personalized approach used to guide physician treatment decisions for cancer patients. A piece of the patient's living tumor is removed during surgery or biopsy and engrafted in immune-deficient mice. After the TumorGraft grows, still closely resembling the patient's tumor, Champions Oncology tests drug treatments in the TumorGraft and measures the response. TumorGraft has demonstrated high rates of predictability using multiple therapies, including single-agent and combination, chemotherapy regimens and targeted biological drugs.
Every TumorGraft is preserved as a living sample for future patient use. These banked TumorGrafts can be re-grown and tested in the event of cancer progression or recurrence. In oncology drug development, TumorGraft models are utilized extensively by pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations to predict the clinical effectiveness of their compounds in targeted patient populations.
"Our preliminary collaboration with Insilico Medicine showed some exciting results that may be of interest to both the academic and industry communities", said KerenPaz, chief Scientific Officer at Champions Oncology.
In the scope of this research collaboration Insilico Medicine will analyze a portion of Champions Oncology gene expression data sets from tumor grafts before and aftertreatment with chemotherapy drugs and compare the signaling pathway activation state (SPAS) changes with the SPAS changes in human patients.
"Champions' Tumorgraft technology stems from many years of breakthrough science generated in the most credible, productive and innovative cancer research laboratories headed by Dr. David Sidransky, who's work we greatly admire. We believe that the TumorGraft technology has broad applications in drug discovery and drug repurposing in aging and age-related diseases that were previously overlooked. This research collaboration may pave the way for a comprehensive drug discovery and development pipeline, where drugs and drug candidates may be selected and prioritized using in silico approaches and tested in human tissues engrafted into Champions Oncology mice or other animal models", said Qingsong Zhu, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, Insilico Medicine, Inc.
About Insilico Medicine
Insilico Medicine is a Baltimore-based company utilizing advances in advances in genomics and big data analysis for in silico drug discovery and drug repurposing for aging and age-related. The company is utilizing the GeroScope™ and OncoFinder™ packages for aging and cancer research. Through internal expertise and extensive collaborations with brilliant scientists, institutions, and highly credible pharmaceutical companies, Insilico Medicine seeks to discover new drugs and drug combinations for personalized preventative medicine. For more information on Insilico Medicine, Inc. please visit http://www.insilicomedicine.com.
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 TumorGraft 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 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 http://www.championsoncology.com.
Please contact:
Michael Petr
Market Research Associate
michael.petr@insilicomedicine.com