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TRACERx MRD Results Showcase ppmSeq’s Ultra-Sensitive ctDNA Detection at AACR
Minimal residual disease (MRD) continues to be a central focus at the AACR meeting. The small numbers of cancer cells that remain in the body after treatment helps gauge the effectiveness of a treatment and relapse risk. The ability to detect those cells, even in tiny amounts, is an ongoing goal of the cancer community.
At this year’s AACR, the sequencing company Ultima Genomics is announcing new findings in this area using its ppmSeq technology. The data will be presented across six abstracts, including a plenary session.
Highlighting the program will be initial TRACERx (TRAcking Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx)) MRD data showcasing performance of ppmSeq relative to ultrasensitive bespoke panels.
TRACERx is a long-term study—one of the largest tumor evolution studies—funded by Cancer Research UK. The program analyzes how cancer evolves, spreads to other parts of the body, and develops resistance to treatments. Instead of taking just one biopsy, researchers sample different parts of the same tumor and metastases; the program involves sequencing multi-region and multi-time-point genetic data from over 3,200 tumor samples from over 800 lung cancer patients.
The data will be presented at a plenary session by Charles Swanton, FRCP, BSc, PhD, professor at The Francis Crick Institute in the U.K. He will present an early validation pilot of ppmSeq across 50 plasma samples—using tumor-specific variants identified from prior whole genome sequencing—achieved high analytical sensitivity for ctDNA detection at low single-digit parts-per-million.
“TRACERx has always followed the science of cancer evolution wherever it leads,” said Swanton. “Improving the sensitivity of ctDNA detection is central to the wider ambition for MRD monitoring, and expanding studies across a broader patient population will give us the statistical power and clinical context to determine how whole genome MRD monitoring can be deployed at NHS scale and beyond.”
Data from collaborators will also be presented at the conference. Labcorp will present data from an independent analytical study of an assay developed in coordination with ppmSeq technology, including the performance across multiple solid tumor types in pre-surgical, treatment-naive plasma samples. This analysis of 120 non-cancerous donor samples showed specificity exceeding 99.9%, underscoring the ability of ppmSeq whole genome sequencing to accurately differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous samples, minimizing false positives. Additional analysis across three commercially available cancer cell lines spanning 13 concentration levels from 0.5 to 500 parts per million showed a 95% limit of detection below 3 ppm, demonstrating the assay’s capacity to detect ultra-low levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).
“For a long time, the question has been whether you can get truly ultra-sensitive MRD detection from a whole genome approach without all the complexity of bespoke assays,” notes Gilad Almogy, PhD, CEO of Ultima Genomics. “What these AACR data show is that the answer is yes. We’re seeing ppmSeq deliver the level of sensitivity needed to make whole genome MRD practical, scalable, and much easier to deploy globally.”
The post TRACERx MRD Results Showcase ppmSeq’s Ultra-Sensitive ctDNA Detection at AACR appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
Biotechnology company SonoThera has raised $125 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing round. The financing was led by Vida Ventures, with participation from ARK Invest, CureDuchenne Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, SymBiosis, UCB Ventures SA, Vivo Capital, and existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments, Duquesne Family Office, Illumina Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Medical Excellence Capital, RA Capital, and Vertex Ventures HC.
SonoThera will use the funds to advance its lead programs in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in the clinic. The funds will also support efforts to expand its pipeline of targeted redosable genetic medicines across multiple organ systems and scale its proprietary platform technologies for safe, targeted therapy delivery.
The company’s platform combines a proprietary ultrasound-mediated delivery technology dubbed RIPPLE
, with a payload engineering platform dubbed PORE. The platforms are designed to support the development of DNA and RNA therapeutics, gene editing, and gene silencing approaches. SonoThera is using its tech to develop genetic medicines that it claims will address key limitations of conventional gene therapies including delivery challenges, payload size constraints, immune responses, safety events, and difficulties with redosing.
As Kenneth Greenberd, PhD, SonoThera’s co-founder and CEO, stated “we founded SonoThera to take a fundamentally different approach, with a platform designed to broaden the therapeutic possibilities of the field. We believe our technology has the potential to expand the range of diseases addressable by genetic medicines while enabling more precise, durable, safer, and repeatable therapies for patients.”
SonoThera has already demonstrated the targeted delivery and expression capabilities of its platform across multiple tissues, including skeletal muscle, heart, liver, kidney, adipose, and brain. It has also shown that it can deliver large payloads such as full-length dystrophin for DMD and RNA-based payloads for gene silencing applications in preclinical studies.
The company expects to initiate its first clinical trial in DMD in 2027.
Commenting on the financing, Rajul Jain, MD, managing director at Vida Ventures, said “we believe SonoThera, with its RIPPLE delivery and PORE payload engineering technologies, has the potential to unlock opportunities in diseases with significant unmet need that have been previously inaccessible to other genetic medicine approaches.”
In connection with the financing, Jain and Rakhshita Dhar, MS, vice president & head of Healthcare Venture Investments at Leaps by Bayer, have joined SonoThera’s Board of Directors.
The post SonoThera Raises $125M to Develop Ultrasound-Mediated Genetic Medicines appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
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STAT+: Up and down the ladder: The latest comings and goings
Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us, and we’ll share it with others. That’s right. Send us your changes, and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going.
And here is our regular feature in which we highlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that AstronauTx hired Michelle Mellion as chief medical officer. Previously, she held the same role at PepGen and EveryONE Medicines.
But all work and no play can make for a dull chief medical officer.
Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us, and we’ll share it with others. That’s right. Send us your changes, and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going.
And here is our regular feature in which we highlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that AstronauTx hired Michelle Mellion as chief medical officer. Previously, she held the same role at PepGen and EveryONE Medicines.
But all work and no play can make for a dull chief medical officer.
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The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
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Mod turns ‘Counter-Strike’ into a ‘Tekken’ clone with fighting chickens
Meet Superman’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
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SonoThera Raises $125M to Develop Ultrasound-Mediated Genetic Medicines
STAT+: Up and down the ladder: The latest comings and goings
FDA imposes import alert on Indian plant after inspectors flag GMP failings
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Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt
The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
Mod turns ‘Counter-Strike’ into a ‘Tekken’ clone with fighting chickens
Meet Superman’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
Disney’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars
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