EVRY, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IntegraGen, a leading player in the development and marketing of molecular diagnostic testing in oncology and autism, announced today that it has finalized an agreement providing the company with exclusive licensing rights for the oncology biomarker hsa-miR-31-3p, a microRNA whose expression has been shown to be a predictor of progression free survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with anti-EGFR therapy. This exclusive license is based on original research led by Professor Laurent-Puig, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Genetics and head of the Clinical Oncogenetic Unit at European Georges Pompidou Hospital University Paris Descartes in Paris, France. IntegraGen obtained the exclusive license for the worldwide rights for this biomarker from the Paris Descartes University, INSERM, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and the Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, all leading French academic institutions which, along with IntegraGen, are co-owners of the patent.
“This agreement increases IntegraGen’s proprietary oncology biomarker portfolio and enhances our ability to offer new molecular diagnostic tests to physicians which can assist their clinical management of cancer patients,” stated Dr. Bernard Courtieu, IntegraGen’s CEO. “This agreement, which is a direct result of IntegraGen’s collaborative research with Prof. Laurent-Puig and his research team, will allow IntegraGen to address a potential market worth $50 to $100 million dollars starting in 2014.” Professor Laurent-Puig was the initial researcher to report that metastatic colorectal cancer patients with KRAS mutations are resistant to anti-EGFR therapy.
“Identifying metastatic colorectal cancer patients who have differences in response rates to drug therapies will allow for a personalized approach to cancer care,” said Professor Laurent-Puig. “Our studies have demonstrated that the hsa-miR-31-3p biomarker has the ability to predict survival risk progression in non-KRAS mutated (wild-type) metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with anti-EGFR agents. With approximately two-thirds of metastatic colorectal cancer patients being wild-type KRAS, the incorporation of this marker into clinical practice will likely help to better target the use of EGFR therapy in large number of patients and spare patients who will likely not respond to these agents from their associated toxicities and also prevent the loss of time and opportunity to receive other treatment options which may be more effective.”
The results of a study reporting that hsa-mir-31-3p expression in tumor samples was a predictor of anti-EGFR response in wild-type (non-mutated) KRAS patients with metastatic colorectal cancer was presented at the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology held in Chicago, Illinois (link to abstract) and more recently during the 2013 European Cancer Conference held in Amsterdam.
ABOUT INTEGRAGEN
Founded in 2000, IntegraGen (ALINT.PA) is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests in the fields of autism and oncology. IntegraGen’s mission is to translate molecular research into clinical practice through the identification of novel genetic biomarkers and the subsequent development of molecular diagnostic tests which allow clinicians to better manage the clinical care of their patients. IntegraGen is also a leader in delivering expert genomic service solutions to academic researchers and life sciences companies as a result of its scientific knowledge and technological expertise related to cutting edge genomic platforms and bioinformatics.
For more information on IntegraGen visit www.integragen.com.
