BostonGene Expands Testing Capabilities to Predict Patient Response to Immunotherapy

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BostonGene Corporation announced today expanded capabilities of the BostonGene Tumor Portrait ^TM Test that enable healthcare providers and insurance companies to determine eligibility and predict response for immunotherapy treatment and manage the total cost of care for cancer patients. A sophisticated analysis of the tumor and tumor microenvironment (TME), the BostonGene Tumor Portrait ^TM Test, reveals critical drivers of each tumor, including immune microenvironment properties, actionable mutations, biomarkers of response to diverse therapies, and recommended therapies.

The BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test is highly predictive of response to immunotherapy and stratifies patients into responders and non-responders. This information will aid physicians with therapy selection, decrease unnecessary adverse events, and allow healthcare systems to reduce expenditures significantly. For patients classified as non-responders to immunotherapy, the BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test provides other potential therapy options, utilizing existing guidelines to equip the treating physician in selecting the ideal therapy route.

The BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test is based on results from its landmark research study published in the June 2021 edition of Cancer Cell. The manuscript, “Conserved pan-cancer microenvironment subtypes predict response to immunotherapy,” details a transcriptomic-based tumor classification platform that identifies distinct TME subtypes, predicting prognosis and response to immune checkpoint blockade. The study, supported by BostonGene’s 80 granted and 70 pending U.S. and international patents on cancer immunity, represents the importance of innovative multi-platform analytics to improve patient outcomes. The BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test builds on the understanding that matching patients to therapy options based on genomic and transcriptomic characteristics can produce better outcomes and adds a unique feature of therapy response prediction to assist in selecting the right therapy for each patient. Presently, there is a challenge between identifying candidates for a particular class of drugs and the low response rate to selected therapies. This is a costly burden on the healthcare system and may cause unnecessary adverse events to patients.

“Immuno-oncology focuses on data-informed, more precise methods to select the best choice of treatments for patients the first time, minimizing side effects and costly trial and error,” says Mark Poznansky, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Director of Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and an academic research collaborator with BostonGene. “Technologies that can help predict treatment response create an opportunity to improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of overall care.”

“Oncologists can choose from several hundred unique FDA-approved drugs,” says Nathan Fowler, MD, Chief Medical Officer at BostonGene. “Despite these options, cures are rare, and most patients with advanced disease will have limited response to single agents. Correctly identifying and selecting the best drug, or combination of drugs for each patient with the BostonGene test has the potential to increase cures for all cancer patients dramatically.”

About BostonGene Corporation

BostonGene’s mission is to power healthcare’s transition to personalized medicine using AI-based molecular and immune profiling to improve the standard of care, accelerate research, and improve economics. The BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test reveals key drivers of each tumor, including immune microenvironment properties, actionable mutations, biomarkers of response to diverse therapies, and recommended therapies. Through these comprehensive analyses, the BostonGene Tumor Portrait^TM Test generates a personalized roadmap for therapeutic decision-making for each cancer patient. For more information, visit BostonGene at http://www.BostonGene.com.