ACLARA Data at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium Demonstrates ETAG(TM) System Potential in Cancer Drug Development and Treatment Prognosi
September 30 2004 - 8:45AM
PR Newswire (US)
ACLARA Data at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium Demonstrates ETAG(TM)
System Potential in Cancer Drug Development and Treatment Prognosis
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and GENEVA, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- ACLARA BioSciences (NASDAQ:ACLA) today announced that
researchers presented four posters at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium
on "Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics" in Geneva,
Switzerland. The posters demonstrate the capabilities of the
company's eTag(TM) System to selectively and quantitatively detect
various protein-protein interactions involved in the aberrant
activation of tyrosine kinase, a receptor which when activated is
highly correlated to cancer cell proliferation, tumor growth and
ultimately to poor patient prognosis. "These posters provide an
overview of the potential of the eTag System to improve the
management of cancer by facilitating individualized treatment based
on the specific molecular phenotype of the patient's tumor,"
commented Sharat Singh, Ph.D., ACLARA's chief technical officer.
"We show for the first time that eTag assays can provide
quantitative information about receptor dimerization patterns in
breast and lung cancer. In addition, the ability of the eTag System
to assess the potency of various anti-tumor compounds in
development is addressed." ACLARA's eTag assays enable detailed
analysis of protein drug targets and signaling pathways in cancer
cells. Of note, the assay can be performed on samples that are
formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, the standard format of tissue
preparation employed in most pathology labs. In an environment
where small molecule inhibitors and antibody therapeutics are
increasingly available for the treatment of cancer, the eTag System
may enhance the ability of the physician to identify patients who
are likely to respond to specifically-targeted therapies, as well
as streamline patient selection for clinical trials, resulting in
potential cost savings and accelerated pace of drug development.
Poster Details 1. "IC50 determination for HER family
receptor-targeted compounds and downstream signaling." Hossein
Salimi-Moosavi, Jin Xueguang, Youssouf Badal , Sailaja Pidaparthi,
Yining Shi, Hasan Tahir, Hrair Kirakossain, and Sharat Singh
(Poster # P 083877) This poster demonstrates that utilizing the
multiplexed eTag Assay System for the detection of receptor
dimerization, phosphorylation, and signaling pathway activation can
serve as a reliable tool for the screening of cancer drug
candidates in a rapid and efficient manner as compared to other
currently existing methods. Specifically, the authors looked at the
activity of 12 targeted cancer drug candidates currently in
development that are believed to inhibit the phosphorylation of
tyrosine kinases at the receptor level as well as downstream
signaling pathways. The researchers showed that the drug candidates
achieved varying degrees of inhibition of phosphorylation of
tyrosine kinases and downstream mediators, and therefore concluded
that the ability of these drug candidates to inhibit cell
proliferation and tumor growth may vary significantly. 2.
"Differential HER family receptor dimerization and downstream
signaling in cancer cell lines." Hossein Salimi-Moosavi, Xueguang
Jin, Youssouf Badal, Tina Tian, Sailaja Pidaparthi, Jing Wei,
Caroline Samain, Hasan Tahir, Hrair Kirakossian, and Sharat Singh.
(Poster # P 083876) ACLARA scientists developed multiplexed
proximity-based eTag assays for the assessment of HER family
receptor dimerization and signaling pathway activity
(phosphorylation) to streamline analyses of in vitro and in vivo
models of cancer. The analysis demonstrates unique signaling
patterns that are a function of differential EGFR, HER2 or HER3
receptor expression in various cancer cell lines, and establishes
the validity of using the eTag Assay System for signaling pathway
profiling. 3. "Development of Proximity based assay to detect and
quantify erbB (or HER) receptor dimerization in formalin
fixed-paraffin embedded tissue sections." R. Dua, Y. Shi, A.
Mukherjee, S. Pidaparthi, H. Kirakossian, L. Cao, Y. Tan, L.
Jarvis, S. Gangakhedkar, H. Pannu, A. Chenna, T. Nguyen, J.
Wallweber, H. Tahir, and S. Singh. (Poster # P 083879) The eTag
system can be used to determine the activation status of the
erbB/HER receptor pathway in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded
(FFPE) clinical samples for the purpose of correlating pathway
activation with disease prognosis and probability of response to
targeted therapies. Over-expression of erbB/HER receptors in a
number of cancers is highly correlated with disease progression and
poor prognosis. However, recent clinical trials have shown that
over-expression of erbB receptors alone is not sufficient to
predict clinical outcome. A thorough analysis of the activation
status of the erbB pathway may lead to more accurate targeting of
specific antagonists. The eTag System is simple, sensitive, and
provides a quantitative assessment of HER-family protein
dimerization using FFPE specimens. 4. "Prevalence of erbB/HER
receptor dimerization in breast and lung cancer." Sailaja
Pidaparthi, Jing Wei, Caroline Samain, Yining Shi, Jerry Wallweber,
Ahmed Chenna, Hasan Tahir, and Sharat Singh (Poster # P 083878)
Increases in erbB/HER dimerization levels are associated with
increased tyrosine kinase activity resulting in uncontrolled cell
proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. ACLARA scientists
developed eTag assays to detect and quantify the different types of
erbB/HER dimers that are found in breast and lung cancer tissues.
The poster demonstrates that eTag technology may serve as a
valuable prognostic and diagnostic tool by helping to select
patients with breast or lung cancer for targeted therapy, as well
as assessing the efficacy of treatment by accurately measuring the
activation state of the receptor during therapy. This assay system
represents the first quantitative method for the assessment of
activation signatures of the erbB/HER family of receptors.
Researchers found that all tumor samples had higher HER-2 levels
compared to normal breast samples, but ErbB/HER dimerization was
detected in tumor tissues only -- not in normal breast tissues,
whether matched with the same donor or not. ETag quantitative
dimerization assays showed the presence of differential amounts of
HER-1/2 and/or HER-2/3 and/or HER-2/2 dimers in different breast
cancer tissues of either ductal or lobular types. Similarly, lung
tumor samples showed heterogeneous dimerization profiles from
patient to patient. About ACLARA Founded in 1995, ACLARA is a
biotechnology company working to provide physicians and researchers
products and services to make personalized medicine a reality
through its protein-based assay technology -- the eTag(TM) System.
ACLARA is dedicated to unlocking the power of pathway biology to
accelerate the development of next-generation targeted
therapeutics, recognizing the most appropriate patients for
approved therapies and identifying the highly-specific,
protein-based biomarkers that will enable physicians to create
truly personalized treatment regimens for patients suffering from
cancer and other life-threatening disorders. ACLARA is
commercializing its proprietary eTag System to enhance and
accelerate drug discovery research and the preclinical and clinical
development of targeted therapeutics. ACLARA's technology may also
enable the development of highly specific, protein-based
diagnostics capable of providing physicians with a powerful tool
for creating personalized treatment regimens for patients suffering
from serious and difficult-to-treat cancers. For more information
on ACLARA please visit the Company's web site at
http://www.aclara.com/. Forward-Looking Statements All statements
in this news release that are not historical are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially for
ACLARA from those projected. Those factors include risks and
uncertainties relating to the performance of our products,
anticipated progress in commercialization of our eTag(TM) Assay
System; the potential for use of our eTag assays in clinical
development programs; the potential for use of our eTag assays as
diagnostic tests; our ability to successfully conduct clinical
studies and the results obtained from those studies; our ability to
establish reliable, high-volume operations at commercially
reasonable costs; expected reliance on a few customers for the
majority of our revenues; actual market acceptance of our products
and adoption of our technological approach and products by
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; our estimate of the
size of our markets; our estimates of the levels of demand for our
products; our ability to develop organizational capabilities
suitable for the further development and commercialization of our
eTag assays; the ultimate validity and enforceability of our patent
applications and patents; the possible infringement of the
intellectual property of others; technological approaches of ACLARA
and our competitors; our pending merger with ViroLogic, Inc.,
including the risk that the closing conditions or the merger may
not be satisfied and the merger may not be completed, and costs
related to the proposed merger; and other risk factors identified
in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 and in the
Joint Proxy/Prospectus related to our proposed merger as filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. NOTE: ACLARA BioSciences is
a registered trademark, and eTag and the ACLARA logo are trademarks
of ACLARA BioSciences, Inc. DATASOURCE: ACLARA BioSciences, Inc.
CONTACT: Alfred Merriweather, VP, Finance and CFO of ACLARA,
+1-650-210-1200, or Web site: http://www.aclara.com/
Copyright
Aclara Biosciences (NASDAQ:ACLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Aclara Biosciences (NASDAQ:ACLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024