Biocartis and Hospital del Mar (Barcelona, Spain) Join Forces to Develop Diagnostic Colon Cancer Test

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, MECHELEN, Belgium and BARCELONA, Spain, October 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Today Biocartis and Hospital del Mar announced their licence agreement on the EGFR biomarker for colon cancer. This agreement enables Biocartis to develop a new colon cancer test, whereby a specific EGFR mutation can be rapidly and accurately detected in patients, which will enable doctors to recommend personalised therapy.

Innovative platforms and tests for cancer diagnosis

Biocartis is active in molecular diagnostics and develops innovative diagnostic platforms, which allow for efficient disease detection. Biocartis also develops a wide range of clinically relevant tests for various therapeutic areas, with a primary focus on cancer diagnosis.

EGFR: new biomarker for colon cancer

Recently Dr Montagut and her team (Dr Albanell's department of Medical Oncology, Hospital del Mar) showed that colon cancer patients with an S492R-mutation in the EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) can't be helped with the colon cancer drug cetuximab. The EGFR mutation makes the tumours resistant to this treatment, whilst they remain sensitive to treatment with panitumumab. These results were published in the leading scientific journal Nature Medicine.

Rapid diagnosis results in personalised therapy

"Our agreement with Biocartis represents a crucial step in translating our relevant scientific findings to benefit the patient," according to Clara Montagut, associated doctor, Oncology department, Hospital del Mar and researcher at the IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute).

The collaboration with Hospital del Mar enables Biocartis to develop a colon cancer test for a fast and accurate detection of the EGFR mutation. "This new biomarker enables us to develop a unique combination of tests for the detection of colon cancer, which can be analysed on our state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic platforms," added Geert Maertens, Chief Scientific Officer at Biocartis. "The detection of this biomarker in colon cancer patients ensures that personalised therapy can be applied faster and more efficiently."