Aslan Pharmaceuticals and ACT Genomics to explore genomic background to therapeutic treatment super responders
Collaboration will initially explore major responses already observed in trials of ASLAN001
Aslan Pharmaceuticals, an oncology focused biotechnology company, and ACT Genomics (ACT), a cancer molecular information services company, will collaborate to carry out studies of the genomic background to extreme therapeutic responses, in which clinical trial patients show better-than-expected treatment response rates in certain instances.
Aslan has a portfolio of pathway inhibitors, immune checkpoint inhibitors and tumour metabolism stress molecules that it will use to target Asia-prevalent tumour types including breast, gastric and bile duct cancers. Leveraging ACT’s next generation sequencing and multiplex molecular testing platform, the company will investigate several major responses demonstrated in clinical trials of its ASLAN001 development programme, a potentially best-in-class small molecule pan-HER inhibitor, in breast cancer and bile duct cancer. In trials conducted in this type of cancer one patient showed 87% tumour shrinkage over a prolonged period of time, which is uncommon in this severe form of cancer.
Aslan Pharmaceuticals' Chief Scientific Officer Bertil Lindmark said: 'We are very excited by the degree of clinical response we have seen in trials of ASLAN001 to date, and are looking forward to the opportunity to work with ACT Genomics to gain a greater understanding of the genomic background behind particular patients’ 'super responses' to certain treatments. The collaboration with ACT provides Aslan with access to ground-breaking genomic expertise with the potential to transform cancer genomic information into precision diagnosis, improved cancer assays and, ultimately, better clinical outcomes for patients.'
Hua Chien Chen, Chief Executive of ACT Genomics, added: 'Every patient’s cancer is unique at the molecular level. The cancer molecular information is playing a critical role in patient stratification for clinical trials. We are pleased to work with Aslan Pharmaceuticals to accelerate new targeted cancer drug development, all with the same goal of driving a transformation in cancer treatment.'