DxS Will Identify EGFR Mutations in Lung Cancer Patients

DxS (Manchester, UK) and a global group of pharmaceutical companies have entered into an agreement to provide a companion diagnostic test kit for the Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany) compound BIBW 2992 (Tovok). The test identifies mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). DxS and Boehringer Ingelheim will work jointly to make a suitable companion diagnostic test kit globally available. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

BIBW 2992 is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor, which acts by irreversibly blocking the EGFR /HER2 receptors that are promoters of tumor growth. Patients with mutations in the EGFR gene will be more likely to respond to a medication that targets these receptors, thereby allowing doctors to prescribe the most effective and individual treatment. BIBW 2992 has demonstrated preclinical activity against erlotinib and gefitinib resistant mutations.

The DxS EGFR companion diagnostic is a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, designed to detect the most common mutations in the EGFR gene. It will be available in the summer of 2009 for Boehringer Ingelheim's global, multicenter phase III clinical trial for BIBW 2992.

The Boehringer Ingelheim group is a pharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing, manufacturing, and marketing products of therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.

DxS is a personalized medicine company providing molecular diagnostics to aid doctors and drug companies in selecting therapies for patients. It partners pharmaceutical companies to support the development and sales of targeted cancer therapies by providing biomarkers and companion diagnostics.

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