Allcyte collaborates with Boehringer Ingelheim to advance preclinical oncology drug discovery by using novel drug response profiling technology
- Selected Boehringer Ingelheim cancer cell and immune cell directed compounds will be screened with Allcyte’s Pharmacoscopy high-throughput confocal microscopy platform technology
- The novel technology enables early selection of best drug candidates by direct activity profiling in patient samples
- Early identification of sensitive patient groups, candidate biomarkers and mechanism of action could enable faster and more specific drug discovery
Vienna, Austria – September 4, 2017 – Allcyte today announced a new collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to characterize the activity of Boehringer Ingelheim oncology compounds in primary samples of hematological cancer patients using Allcyte’s Pharmacoscopy ex vivo drug response profiling platform. The partners aim to identify the most sensitive target indications and patient populations, define biomarkers of clinical response and obtain information on mechanism of action for pre-clinical compounds early on. The collaboration will combine Allcyte’s unique platform technology with Boehringer Ingelheim’s expertise in the discovery and development of new anti-cancer therapies.
Allcyte’s unique high-throughput and high-content ex vivo drug response profiling platform technology is able to robustly assess the targeted and differential sensitivity of tumor cells within primary patient material to oncology compounds, as well as quantify the function and interaction between immune cells and cancer cells. In the collaboration, Allcyte’s platform technology will be used to determine Boehringer Ingelheim drug’s action at single cell resolution directly in primary patient material. This will enable an improved understanding of target indications for drug entities, which will allow for the design of more focused clinical trials for these drugs in specific blood cancers, and correlation with genetics will uncover companion biomarkers. As expert clinical collaborators, Allcyte has partnered with key senior physicians from the Department of Hematology of the Medical University of Vienna.
Immune oncologic therapies have shown great clinical promise, but there are limited ways of measuring immune-mediated effects on human material in the laboratory - Allcyte and Boehringer Ingelheim will utilize Allcyte’s novel methodology to bridge the gap between pre-clinical and clinical development and gain new insights into the activity and mode of action of Boehringer Ingelheim’s novel cancer immunotherapeutic compounds. Allcyte’s Pharmacoscopy platform permits the robust quantification of cell-to-cell interactions involved in anti-tumor activity using primary patient materials. Compared to mouse models, this approach could provide more relevant information to gauge immunomodulatory effects.
“The prioritization of pre-clinical entities through drug-to-target indication matching means new drugs can be tested in those patients that stand to benefit from the drug, leading to more focused clinical trials, increasing the likelihood of drugs reaching the market” said Prof. Berend Snijder, Scientific Founder of Allcyte and Professor of Biology at the ETH Zurich, “Importantly, faster time to approval and increased effectiveness of novel treatments directly benefits patients”. Prof. Giulio Superti-Furga, Scientific Founder of Allcyte and Scientific Director of CeMM added: “we are delighted to have started this collaboration between Allcyte and Boehringer Ingelheim, as it highlights the great biotechnology innovation standards that Vienna has to offer; through synergies like this, we can positively affect the lives of patients”.
“We are very excited to implement the technology developed by Allcyte as it supports one of our key objectives, which is to leverage novel translational approaches to deliver more first in class breakthrough treatments that provide true value for the many patients in need,” said Prof. Norbert Kraut, Vice President and Global Head of Cancer Research.
About Allcyte
Allcyte is a start-up biotechnology company located in Vienna, Austria focusing on the use of high-throughput and high-content automated confocal imaging of primary patient material using technology pioneered at CeMM, the Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, to answer key biological questions of drug function and action. Allcyte is a spin-off of CeMM in Vienna.
Intended audiences
This press release is issued by Allcyte, and is intended to provide information about a new collaboration.
Media contacts
Allcyte GmbH
Dr. Gregory Vladimer – Scientific Co-Founder
gregory.vladimer@allcyte.com