- Predictive
Oncology subsidiary TumorGenesis developing faster, less costly, and more
accurate PDx cancer models that better mimic the patient’s tumor
- TumorGenesis
revolutionary technology will provide pharmaceuticals with quicker and
more effective drug development while significantly improving patient
outcomes
- There’s
an unmet need for a multi-omic approach (genome, transcriptome, epigenome,
proteome, responseome, and microbiome), but such data is difficult to
generate quickly.
- Predictive
Oncology has access to historical data that competitors need at least five
years to develop, which presents a multi-million-dollar market opportunity
The global cancer diagnostics market was valued at $144.4
billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a 7.0% CAGR over the next six years
on the back of increasing prevalence of oncologic cases, rapid technological
advancement, and rising demand for effective screening tests. Within this
broader cancer market, the Patient Derived Xenograft (PDx) segment, which
involves a personalized approach to cancer treatment, was valued at $ 77.4
million in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.7%, reaching $167.6
million by 2022. The driving forces behind this growth include the increasing
demand for personalized medicine as well as public and private commitment to
cancer research coupled with the growing R&D activities in the
pharmaceutical industry.
TumorGenesis, a subsidiary of Predictive
Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI), was established in 2018 to tap into this
lucrative market with its unique way to capture and culture cancer cells and
screen drug combinations for personalized cancer treatment. The parent company,
Predictive Oncology, aims to deliver cutting-edge services for the oncology
research and profiling market.
The problem with traditional cancer research is that it
relies on the procedure whereby cancer cells need to be immortalized before
they can be multiplied into colonies, which are then used in further research.
Immortalization, however, renders all the cells identical, resulting in
homogeneous cancer cell colonies, a characteristic that is far from true for
the cancer cells found in human patients. What the scientific community now
realizes is that cancer tissue comes as a mixture of rapidly mutating cell
variants with unpredictable behavior, which means that traditional models are
not sufficiently reliable.
However, there’s a paradigm shift occurring in cancer
research as Patient Derived Xenografts (PDx) cancer models are developed. These
are models where the cells from a patient’s tumor are taken, cultured, and then
implanted into immunodeficient mice and rats – but the challenge is to keep the
cells uncompromised during the process. TumorGenesis is part of this novel line
of cutting-edge research as the company developed a proprietary technology that
enables tumors to be grown in the lab in a medium that tricks the tumor cells
into thinking they are still in the body.
TumorGenesis excels not only in identifying cancer cell
lines but also in developing a medium necessary to grow cancer cell colonies in
a way that will not compromise their integrity – a consideration critical to
the success of every cancer research. This revolutionary technology is creating
an unparalleled competitive advantage for the parent company POAI, as it allows
for faster and more accurate identification of tumors and the development of
patient-specific treatment options. The company expects this revolutionary
product to hit the market by the end of the year.
What is unique with TumorGenesis’ state-of-the-art approach
to cancer research is that the company has already developed 25 validated
ovarian cancer cell types that mature into uncompromised tumor colonies not
only in vitro but in rats and mice, too – a formidable accomplishment as 15 out
of 25 cell lines represent around 90% of all ovarian cancers discovered so far,
including those most virulent and deadly.
The company is also at the forefront of immunoncological
research as it developed the proprietary technology called Ovarian Cancer Kit
that uses the patient’s immune system to identify cancer cell types, inhibit
their growth, and categorize their response to drug treatment. These
developments are possible as the parent company POAI holds the world’s largest
database of tumor drug response profiles and other multi-omic data, which they
leverage to develop Artificial Intelligence-powered predictive models of
therapy response. This enables more rapid target drug identification and
significantly improves the drug approval rates, giving the company an unrivaled
competitive edge.
POAI intends to make an impact in the precision medicine
business with the goal of monetizing its assets within 18 months to reach a
valuation comparable to its peers of $250 million. Unlike most competitors, the
company has access to historical data on clinical outcomes and can generate
value to pharmaceuticals much faster, while competitors must wait at least five
years for the data. With a current valuation of only about $13 million, POAI is
a compelling opportunity in the rapidly growing oncology outsourcing market,
estimated to exceed $24 billion by 2026.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Predictive-Oncology.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates
relating to POAI are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/POAI
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