Exosome Diagnostics (ExosomeDX) and DXS are to collaborate on the development of blood-based companion diagnostics for key cancer gene mutations, such as KRAS, BRAF and EGFR.
The collaboration will use DXS's Scorpion real-time PCR mutation test kits in conjunction with ExosomeDX's xOSO technology, which harvests high-quality nucleic acids from blood exosomes.
The collaboration will initially focus on developing the blood-based measurement of KRAS, BRAF, EGFR and other key mutations for predicting patient response to targeted therapies.
Blood-based mutation measurement is particularly valuable in circumstances where tissue bioavailability is limited, such as in lung, pancreatic and ovarian cancers.
Exosomes are small microvesicles precipitously shed by all solid tumours into blood.
They contain virtually the entire cancer tumour transcriptome.
In studies, ExosomeDX has identified more than 21,000 mRNA and 1,100 miRNA in circulating tumour-derived exosomes, all protected in the exosome lipid bi-layer from any blood-based RNase.
Initial findings were published in the December 2008 issue of Nature Cell Biology.
James McCullough, chief executive officer of ExosomeDX, said: 'There are more than 180 companies investigating over 370 different molecular-targeted cancer therapies, many of which will require high-quality molecular companion diagnostics.
'Teaming with the world leader in this space is a critical step in providing a solution for pharmaceutical companies, researchers and clinicians to measure the key mutations DXS Scorpion probes target directly from blood,' he added.
Dr Stephen Little, chief executive officer of DXS, said: 'Combining the ability to pull high-quality mutations from a simple blood draw with the unparalleled sensitivity and specificity of our Scorpion assays will provide our pharmaceutical and research customers with an ideal solution in personalised medicine.'
