Back to Pressroom

Baltimore, MD | Thursday, November 12, 2009

Champions Biotechnology to Present Data at AACR-EORTC 2009 Regarding the Predictability of Biomerk Tumorgraft™ Platform to Guide Personalized Cancer Treatment and Accelerate Oncology Drug Development

Oct 24 2011 10:23 AM

Champions Biotechnology, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CSBR), an oncology drug development company with a predictive preclinical platform aimed at accelerating the development and enhancing the value of oncology drugs, has announced that two of its studies regarding its application in oncology drug development and personalized medicine have been selected for a poster and oral presentation at the upcoming AACR-EORTC conference in Boston.

A poster will be presented by Dr. Elizabeth Bruckheimer, Champions’ Vice President for Scientific Operations, which will detail the Biomerk Tumorgraft™ platform and its characterization. Together the results demonstrate that by maintaining the fundamental genotypic features of the original tumor along with the stromal and cancer stem cell components, the Biomerk Tumorgraft enables identification of the most promising development path for a compound in terms of indication, drug combination, and target patient populations. The platform also has the potential to identify gene pathways of response and resistance as well as prognostic molecular biomarkers. The banking and characterization efforts are performed in collaboration with South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics (START).

“The predictive power of the Biomerk Tumorgraft platform is very exciting,” said Dr. Bruckheimer. “Application of our models to translational drug development is demonstrating great promise in streamlining the development path of our biotech and pharma partners by giving them a more focused, accelerated and higher probability translational path in clinical trials. Additionally, we are using our platform to build our own oncology pipeline which we expect to yield improved clinical development success rates. We believe that this platform will continue to change the way in which oncology drugs are developed, and oncology patients are treated.”

In collaboration, Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, Professor of Oncology at the Universidad CEU San Pablo, Director of the Centro Integral Oncologia “Clara Campal” and Director of the Clinical Research Program at CNIO all in Madrid, Spain and Champions’ Chief Scientist will present data regarding prolonged clinical responses from Tumorgraft recommended treatments in patients with refractory advanced cancer, and the ability of the Tumorgraft platform to discover novel predictive biomarkers. He will show the correlation between Tumorgraft response in mice and clinical activity in patients, demonstrating a perfect correlation of sensitivity and response.

Data Presentations:

  • From Mice to Men: Guiding Cancer Treatment through Personalized Tumorgraft™ Models Results in Prolonged Clinical Responses in Patients with Refractory Advanced Cancers and Discovery of Novel Predictive Biomarkers will be presented on Tuesday November 17th from 4:30 – 5:30 PM during the Proffered Paper Session.
  • Establishment and Characterization of Primary Human Biomerk Tumorgraft Models: Application to Oncology Drug Development will be presented on Monday November 16th from 12:30 – 2:30 PM and 5:30 – 7:30 PM during the poster session (Abstract #A25).

For more information regarding Champions Biotechnology’s growing business and recent news, please visit www.championsbiotechnology.com.

About Champions Oncology, Inc.

Champions Oncology, Inc. (formerly Champions Biotechnology, Inc) is engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs. The Company’s Tumorgraft™ Technology Platform is a novel approach to personalizing cancer care based upon the implantation of primary human tumors in immune deficient mice followed by propagation of the resulting engraftments, or Tumorgrafts™, in a manner that preserves the biological characteristics of the original human tumor. The Company uses this technology in conjunction with related services to offer solutions for two customer groups: Personalized Oncology Solutions (“POS”) in which physicians and patients looking for information help guide the development of personalized treatment plans, and Translational Oncology Solutions (“TOS”) in which pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking personalized approaches to drug development can lower the cost and increase the speed of developing new drugs and increasing the adoption of existing drugs. The Company’s Tumorgraft™ Technology Platform consists of processes, physical tumors and information that we use to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs. The Company is building its Tumorgraft™ Technology Platform through the procurement, development and characterization of numerous Tumorgrafts™ within each of several cancer types. Tumorgrafts™ are procured through agreements with a number of institutions in the U.S. and overseas as well as through its POS business. The Tumorgrafts™ are developed and tested through agreement with a United States-based preclinical facility.

The Company provides POS to oncologists by establishing and administering expert tumor panels for their patients to analyze medical records and test results, to assist in understanding conventional and experimental options and to identify and arrange for testing, analysis and study of the patients’ cancer tissues, as appropriate. Additionally, the Company offers Personalized Tumorgraft™ development, drug studies and genome sequencing as part of its POS whereby physicians can evaluate the effects of cancer drugs on their patients’ tumorgrafts and understand the genetic make-up of their patient’s tumor enabling them to better select treatment regimens that may be efficacious to the patient

This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995) that inherently involve risk and uncertainties. Champions Oncology generally uses words such as “believe,” “may,” “could,” “will,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. One should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many unforeseen factors. See Champions Oncology’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2011 for a discussion of such risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made, and Champions Oncology’s future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may not meet these expectations. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in Champions Oncology’s expectations, except as required by law.

References:

  1. Hidalgo M et al. Activity of gemcitabine in direct patient derived xenografts predicts clinical outcome: validation of an in vivo model for drug development. J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 4528)
  2. Hidalgo M et al. A Pilot Study of Treatment Guided by Personalized Tumorgrafts in Patients with Advanced Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther August 2011 10:1311-1316
  3. Rubio-Viqueira B, Jimeno A, Cusatis G, et al. An in vivo platform for translational drug development in pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2006;12:4652-4661.
  4. Champions data on file.