Press
Room
Arcturus
Partnership Gives Agendia European Rights to TUO Gene Expression
Profile for CupPrintT Diagnostic
Test
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands and MOUNTAIN VIEW, California
(February 2, 2005) - Agendia and Arcturus have signed a license
agreement under which Agendia obtained the exclusive European
rights to the TUO-gene expression profile (Tumor of Unknown
Origin) discovered by Arcturus. Using this profile, Agendia
has developed CupPrint(TM), a gene expression-based diagnostic
test to be used with patients diagnosed with Cancer Unknown
Primary. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
The potential of CupPrint(TM) will be presented today
by Professor Rene Bernards, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief
Scientific Officer of Agendia, during the American Association
for Cancer Research Oncogenomics 2005 conference in San
Diego, California USA.
Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP), also known as UPT (Unknown
Primary Tumor) or TUO (Tumor of Unknown Origin) is diagnosed
when distant metastasis is discovered in a patient, but
the primary tumor is unknown. CUP accounts for 5 - 10%
of all new cancer referrals and is the fourth most common
cause of cancer mortality. Generally, CUP patients face
a poor prognosis with mean survival rates of 6-9 months.
Identification of the primary tumor enables specifically
targeted clinical treatment, which markedly enhances the
chances of success.
CupPrint(TM) is a gene expression profiling service that
offers an alternative to conventional cancer diagnostics.
CupPrint(TM) employs a (continuously expanding) gene expression
database of currently 32 different tissue types and 78
tumor types, and can therefore rapidly determine whether
the primary tumor belongs to one of the major categories.
If so, treatment can be specifically geared to the patient's
needs, offering a major improvement in the clinical results
and the patient's prognosis. The service will be available
early spring this year.
Robert Schueren, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer at Arcturus is pleased that Agendia has developed
his company's TUO-gene expression profile into an application
available to European oncologists and patients, "Agendia is the world's first provider
of a cancer diagnostic service based on DNA microarray technology:
MammaPrint(R). Thanks to their expertise in this area, we
are pleased to partner with Agendia to employ our TUO-profile
in their new diagnostic service."
According to Bernhard Sixt, Agendia's Chief Executive
Officer, adding CupPrint(TM) to the portfolio underlines
Agendia's strategy to provide new and better cancer diagnostics. "Our aim is to develop products that assist oncologists and physicians
to determine who should be treated in which specific way. Targeted, tailor-made
clinical treatments plans are essential in maximizing a patient's chances of
a cure. CupPrint(TM) is a clear example of a tool that allows such a specific
clinical approach."
About Agendia
Agendia is a world leader in gene expression analysis-based
diagnostics. The company focuses on the development and
commercialization of diagnostic tests using tumor gene
expression profiling. Agendia was the first to commercialize
a prognostic test - MammaPrint(R) - that predicts the chance
of breast cancer recurrence. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands,
Agendia is a privately owned biotechnology company that,
being a spin off of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, has
a strong base in top-level cancer research. Next to the
development of new cancer diagnostics, Agendia offers its
expertise in finding new prospective gene expression profiles
to companies focusing on new drug development in the area
of oncology.
http://www.agendia.com
About Arcturus Bioscience, Inc.
Arcturus is the industry leader in Laser Capture Microdissection
(LCM) and reagent systems for microgenomics, the molecular
analysis of microscopic tissue samples, with systems installed
in leading cancer centers and other research and clinical
laboratories worldwide. These tools enable researchers
to perform rapid cell-based analysis of disease progression
utilizing the smallest and purest samples currently available.
Arcturus has developed this unique technology platform
for genetic analysis of biopsy samples and has applied
its platform to discover cell-specific gene signatures
associated with human diseases such as cancer. Arcturus
is a privately held company headquartered in Mountain View,
California.
http://www.arctur.com
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