On November 10, 2016 NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, reported a new myeloid gene expression collaboration to expand the company’s immuno-oncology portfolio (Press release, NanoString Technologies, NOV 10, 2016, View Source [SID1234516482]). The Company, in conjunction with Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Developmental & Cancer Biology Department, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Portland, Oregon, is developing two new myeloid focused research panels for the study of the innate immune response to cancer. An early version of the Myeloid Innate Immunity Panel will be made available to Dr. Coussens and her collaborators, as well as the Stand Up To Cancer – Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Dream Team members in an exclusive, advance offering during the month of November in conjunction with Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, after which the panels will be available to all researchers.

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"I am thrilled to be partnering with NanoString to create these novel myeloid-focused panels," said Coussens. "We anticipate that through these efforts, we will enable a more complete understanding of the local interplay between myeloid immune components and neoplastic cells in tumors."

Myeloid cells play a key role in modulating activities fundamental to cancer development and are known to have both tumor promoting and anti-tumor functions. As myeloid cells are affected by and can have an impact on many types of cancer therapy, they are broadly applicable within immuno-oncology research. A heightened awareness of the importance of the mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance has brought the myeloid immune response into focus as a key modulator of the adaptive immune response. NanoString is currently working with Coussens on her efforts in understanding recruitment of myeloid cells into neoplastic tissue, and the subsequent regulation exerted by those myeloid cells on neoplastic cells and other cells within dynamic tumor microenvironments.

The Myeloid Innate Immunity panel includes approximately 700 genes representing all major categories of myeloid cells, enabling quantitative evaluation of heterogeneous myeloid cell populations based on recruitment, differentiation, maturation status, and functional activities. The panels are optimized to work across a range of sample types including fresh frozen tissues, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cell lysates.

"It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Coussens and we are excited to share this work with the broader community of cancer researchers. The Myeloid panel is a collection of genes that encompass the many characteristics of the innate immune response that will help advance cancer research with obvious applications in infectious disease as well," said Joseph Beecham, Ph.D., senior vice president of R&D at NanoString. "These myeloid panels are highly complementary to NanoString’s 770 gene PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel, layering a unique dimension of gene expression information that will provide insights into the modulation activities of the innate immune response."

Dr. Coussens is chair of the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology at OHSU. Her research is focused on revealing the role that immune cells play in regulating solid tumor development. Coussens is a principal investigator on the Stand Up To Cancer – Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Convergence Dream Team in which her work is focused on clinical evaluation of immune-based therapies in pancreatic cancer. She has received numerous awards, including: the V Foundation Scholar Award, the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship, and the 2015 recipient of the 13th Rosalind E. Franklin Award from the National Cancer Institute.

This is the latest in a series of research partnerships NanoString has with global leaders in immuno-oncology. NanoString and Coussens will be presenting independently at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) conference taking place Wednesday, November 9 through Sunday, November 13 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Results from NanoString’s previously announced collaborations with Merck and MD Anderson Cancer Center will also be presented this week at AMP and SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper).

– Title: Beyond PD-L1 IHC: A Gene Expression Based Test in development for anti-PD-1 response on the nCounter Dx Analysis System
– Speaker: Dr. Matthew Marton, Director of Genomics and Companion Diagnostics, Merck
– Date/time: Wednesday, November 9th, 8 AM – 9 AM.

– Title: The increasing clinical relevance of predictive biomarkers in cancer immunotherapy: can we afford to move forward without them?
– Speakers: Alessandra Cesano, Alex Rueben (MDACC) & Jared Lunceford (Merck).
– Date/time: Saturday, November 12th, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.