Biodesix, Boulder, Colo, and Immodulon Therapeutics, Uxbridge, England, have announced a biomarker research collaboration to help further immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients. The partnership will focus on analysis of the circulating proteome of advanced pancreatic cancer patients treated with IMM-101, using the Biodesix Diagnostic Cortex machine-learning platform. Pancreatic cancer has an overall 5-year survival rate of 8.5%, with 74% of patients dying within the first year.

The Biodesix machine-learning platform builds on recent advances in the artificial intelligence field to uncover clinically relevant and elaborate biomarker patterns and relationships. Such information enables personalized approaches to therapy selection and a better understanding of complex diseases like cancer. IMM-101 is Immodulon’s investigational immunotherapeutic candidate under development for various tumor types, including advanced pancreatic cancer.

“In the Image 1 randomized clinical trial, metastatic pancreatic cancer patients receiving IMM-101 and gemcitabine benefitted from a 59%  increase in median overall survival compared with those receiving gemcitabine alone,” says Jaap Kampinga, CEO of Immodulon. “There was considerable variability, as is typical in pancreatic cancer, with some patients surviving much longer than others. From this collaboration and by utilizing the Biodesix Diagnostic Cortex in identifying blood-based proteomic biomarkers, we hope to facilitate selection of those patients most likely to respond to IMM-101. This could improve the efficiency of treatment and patient care, and accelerate our clinical trial programs.”

Brunel

David Brunel, Biodesix.

“Our proprietary Diagnostic Cortex machine learning-based biomarker discovery platform is well suited to advancing the clinical research for IMM-101,” says David Brunel, CEO of Biodesix. “This research collaboration with Immodulon builds on our track record of developing companion diagnostics to optimize treatments with the potential to deliver much-needed therapies to critically ill patients.”

Biodesix is a lung cancer diagnostics company addressing the continuum of patient care from early diagnosis of lung nodules through late stage cancer. Immodulon Therapeutics is a privately-owned, clinical-stage immunooncology company focused on the development of safe, effective, and novel treatments for cancer. Its lead drug candidate, IMM-101, has shown promise in early clinical trials, demonstrating potential for the platform.

For more information visit Biodesix and Immodulon.