CRO and Cancer Center Sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement

A specialist contract research organization (CRO), XenTech, and the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center have signed a strategic collaboration agreement aimed at the development of a collection of tumor explant models from patients with acquired resistance to targeted therapies.

The panel of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, obtained from patients who developed resistance to treatment following initial response in the MATCH-R trial, will be used by the cancer center in its oncology R&D programs and will also be added to XenTech’s existing PDX platform for translational oncology research projects for use by both academia and industry.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Gustave Roussy on this unique and ambitious program,” said Jean-Gabriel Judde, CSO and president of XenTech, in a company press release. “These new models will expand XenTech’s bank of PDX models with focus on the advanced drug-resistant setting. The MATCH-R PDX platform will enable a better understanding of acquired resistance to last-generation targeted therapies, providing clinically relevant models to perform preclinical proof-of-concept studies, translating into increased patient survival. Full clinical and molecular annotation will enable model selection for testing innovative therapies, investigating new and existing pathways, and identifying biomarkers.”

“Understanding the mechanisms of acquired resistance to novel targeting agents is crucial in providing optimal care to cancer patients,” said Benjamin Besse, head of the department of medical oncology at Gustave Roussy and principal investigator of the MATCH-R clinical trial, in the release. “This strategic collaboration with XenTech, a renowned expert in PDX development and in-vivopharmacological studies, is a major asset for Gustave Roussy’s precision medicine program. There is no doubt that these clinically relevant models will speed-up the development of novel therapeutic agents leading to extended clinical benefit for metastatic cancer patients.”

Source: XenTech