On January 7, 2020 BioMarker Strategies, LLC, reported that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded the Company a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to continue development of its PathMAP Immunotherapy test to predict clinical response to PD-1/PD-L1 targeted immune checkpoint inhibitors, both alone and in combination with chemotherapies, for individual patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, BioMarker Strategies, JAN 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234552802]). The contract totals $1.5 million over two years.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The Phase II contract follows a Phase I contract that supported development of initial proof-of-concept data for PathMAP Immunotherapy as a pathway-based test to identify patients who could otherwise be excluded from treatment with these very important therapies, because currently available tests show them as negative for the biomarkers currently used to identify patients who might benefit.

"Durable responses have been observed in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have received treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which enable the immune system to kill tumors," said Jerry Parrott, President and CEO of BioMarker Strategies. "However, the reality is that the objective response rate to single-agent immunotherapy is low, at 10-30%. And, the emergence of resistance is observed in patients who initially respond, just as is observed with chemotherapies. This Phase II SBIR contract from NCI will enable us to continue development of our PathMAP Immunotherapy test to predict individual patient response to checkpoint inhibitors, both alone and in combination with chemotherapies."

This project is funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N91019C00022.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with an estimated 154,000 deaths in 2018. NSCLC is responsible for more than 80% of these deaths.