Mission Bio, a provider in single-cell multi-omic solutions for precision medicine, has launched the Tapestri Single-cell MRD (scMRD) AML Multiomics Assay, which is designed to bring resolution to disease relapse and recurrence in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The assay aims to demonstrate the potential of single-cell DNA and protein multiomics to identify therapeutic targets in recurrent AML.

“Through our early access program, world-leading clinicians and scientists within academia and the biopharma industry have provided robust validation showing that our scMRD AML Multiomics Assay can provide impactful insights into AML evolution and patient relapse,” says Todd Druley, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of Mission Bio. “By simultaneously interrogating DNA and protein targets at single-cell resolution and characterizing genotypic and immunophenotypic drifts over disease course, our assay not only identifies patients with recurrent AML, but potentially offers clinicians actionable treatment targets. Tapestri could transform care with comprehensive MRD detection for potentially guiding targeted treatments in AML, multiple myeloma (MM), and other blood cancers.”

A solution able to integrate genotypic and immunophenotypic assessment, the scMRD AML Multiomics Assay targets 40 genes for single-cell DNA sequencing based on current international AML MRD guidelines, such as European LeukemiaNet, and 17-plex antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) panel curated for key biomarkers associated with AML MRD. 

Through an integrated workflow, the assay allows clinician-researchers to:

  • Distinguish true MRD from pre-leukemic or precursor clones with a limit of detection of 0.01%,
  • Reveal clonal architecture (co-occurrence and zygosity of mutation) and uncover the order of acquisition of mutations (phylogeny),
  • Track clonal dynamics and immunophenotypic drifts through disease course to identify therapeutic targets and therapy-resistance subclones.

“Relapse continues to be a major challenge in cancer care, especially in the treatment of patients with AML. The problem is that current tools, like bulk NGS and flow cytometry, lack the clonal resolution and specificity to detect the treatment-resistant cancer cells still hiding in the shadows,” says P.J.M. (Peter) Valk, PhD, Principal Investigator at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “Mission Bio’s unique approach to characterizing MRD could dramatically change how we stratify patients in clinical trials and create personalized care strategies in the future.” 

Further reading: Predicine Demonstrates Utility of MRD Liquid Biopsy Assay in Supporting Divarasib Clinical Trial

A recent study published in Science Advances and led by Wenbin Xiao, MD, PhD from the lab of world-leading leukemia specialist & physician-scientist Ross Levine, MD, Deputy Physician in Chief for Translational Research at MSK demonstrated the potential of the scMRD AML Multiomics Assay to better predict AML recurrence. The researchers found that the assay could detect clinically relevant variants missed by bulk next-generation sequencing with 0.01% limit of detection. Additionally, the researchers tapped the multiomic capabilities of the assay to illustrate the clonal architecture distinguishing leukemic clones from preleukemic clones and hematopoietic clones.

Taken together, the data suggest that the scMRD AML Multiomics Assay could help identify AML relapse and has the potential to provide data-driven guidance to healthcare professionals regarding personalized treatment strategies, disease monitoring, and clinical trial stratification.