Oncimmune (AIM: ONC ) said its ImmunoINSIGHTS team has contributed to a study that has ‘significantly expanded’ the biomarkers commonly measured in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients by mapping out the immune response to the disease and its treatment.
The company said the aim of the study, which is now published in scientific journal, PLOS ONE, was to develop a set or panel of predictive biomarkers to identify an early response in RA patients to Methotrexate or Tocilizumab, Roche's interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor inhibitor.
The study, which is titled, 'Comprehensive exploratory autoantibody profiling in patients with early Rheumatoid Arthritis treated with Methotrexate or Tocilizumab', was conducted by researchers from Oncimmune, drug giant Roche and University Medical Center Utrecht.
RA is an autoimmune disorder primarily of joints, that causes long-term damage. The group said successful validation of a novel autoantibody panel that is predictive of treatment response would be ‘a major step forward in the management of this debilitating disease.’
The current diagnostic tests for RA, a long-term autoimmune disorder, measure Rheumatoid Factor, which is typically elevated in 60-90% of patients with the autoimmune condition.
‘RA is a debilitating, chronic disease where there remains a substantial unmet need in ensuring patients receive the right disease modifying treatment as early as possible,’ it said.
The company has highlighted that ImmunoINSIGHTS, Oncimmune's autoantibody profiling technology and service business, continues to work in partnership with therapy developers to generate, actionable, value-adding insights for their drug development programmes.
“This work, in collaboration with colleagues at Roche and UMC Utrecht, clearly demonstrates the power of our SeroTagTM autoantibody discovery platform in identifying biomarkers able to predict response to a selection of treatments for RA,” said CEO, Dr Adam Hill.
He added, “This predictive capability presents an opportunity to develop and validate novel autoantibody panels for patient stratification in trials and the clinic."
Shares in Oncimmune have increased by over 23% in the past three months on the back of positive news from its EearlyCDT lung blood test and its agreement with Augmenta to open 1.7% higher this morning at 175 following the announcement.
Reasons to Follow ONC
Oncimmune Holdings’ focus is to harness the immune system’s sophisticated response to disease to detect cancer earlier and to support the development of better therapies.
The company believes the key to improving cancer survival is early detection and optimal selection for therapy. Oncimmune's immuno-diagnostic test, EarlyCDT, can detect and help identify cancer on average four years earlier than standard clinical diagnosis.
Oncimmune’s core technology also powers its ImmunoINSIGHTS service; a proprietary platform that enables life-science organisations to optimise drug development and delivery, leading to more effective, targeted as well as safer treatments for patients.
The group’s EarlyCDT Lung blood test was previously featured on an ITV news broadcast last weekend titled ‘New Blood Test Provides Breakthrough in Lung Cancer Detection Rates’.
The feature highlighted that, in the UK, more than 35,000 people die of lung cancer each year and most have their lung cancer diagnosed late thereby lowering their chances of survival. 80% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in the latest stages of the disease.
The EarlyCDT test works to identify the immune system's response to the presence of lung cancer. The test detects antibodies present in the body, enabling clinicians to focus their diagnosis on identifying the disease and treating it earlier than current clinical practice.
It has previously been shown that Oncimmune’s EarlyCDT Lung blood test can detect lung cancer on average four years before standard of care and has shown in a large National Health Service (NHS) trial that it can reduce late stage lung cancer presentation by 36%.
“We are delighted that Oncimmune's EarlyCDT Lung blood test has received such international publicity,” said Adam M Hill, Chief Executive of Oncimmune.
He added, “The benefits of offering patients the opportunity to identify lung cancer early are clear - early detection of this disease saves lives. We are actively engaged across the NHS to bring the blood test to clinicians and patients."
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