evotec_Nov23_PanOmicsDriven - 8

The PanHunter Platform
CLOSING THE " PRACTICE GAP "
Sometimes patients whose cancers test positive
for specific biomarkers never receive available
targeted treatments that could have helped them.
This " practice gap " can result from a number of
causes.
" While personalized medicine presents many
new and more effective treatment options for cancer
patients, biomarker testing and targeted therapeutics
are still relatively new in oncology, " reveals
Susanne Munksted, chief precision officer, Diaceutics.
" Stakeholders are facing multiple challenges in
adapting their cancer care practices and pathways
to effectively implement and deliver precision
oncology to patients. "
These challenges, Munksted notes, include a
clinical " practice gap " between the availability
and the applicability of multigene panel tests.
Indeed, many patients who have actionable mutations
do not receive targeted therapies. (According
to a recent paper in Clinical Lung Cancer (2020;
21: P477-P481), the gap is attributable, in part, to
" limitations in the availability and interpretation of
next-generation sequencing results, sample processing
constraints, limited access to targeted therapies,
and lagging awareness of the rapidly evolving field
of personalized medicine, all of which result in
'clinical inertia.' " )
" Other issues include a high variability in the
levels of biomarker testing and appropriate treatment
decisions across different practice settings,
tumor types, and biomarkers, " Munksted continues.
" There is also varying adherence to testing
guidelines. Another complication is that it takes
on average 4.5 years for a diagnostic assay to be
available and adopted to test the biomarker-positive
patient population. This complication delays patient
treatment. "
Diaceutics is working to solve these challenges:
" We are committed to securing improved treatment
by enabling better testing for patients globally, "
Munksted relates. " We are conducting work in
collaboration with the Personalized Medicine Coalition
to enhance our understanding of the impact
associated with the clinical practice gaps on the
patient care journey. "
Diaceutics has established DXRX, a diagnostics
network-enabled platform that provides access to
global diagnostic testing data from an international
network of laboratories and offers a novel approach
to diagnostic development and commercialization.
Munksted says the goal is to provide unrivaled
access to comprehensive data analytics and to
ensure that " every patient [receives] the treatment
they deserve. "
REALIZING THE PROMISE OF CELL-BASED THERAPIES
In 2017, the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)
T-cell therapy was approved for patients with acute
lymphoblastic leukemia. Ever since, CAR T-cell
therapies have promised to deliver breakthroughs
in the fight against cancer. But these breakthroughs
have yet to be seen. Why? According to Christi Shaw,
the CEO of Kite Pharma, the traditional anticancer
approach-high-dose chemotherapy followed by
stem cell transplantation-continues to be followed
by physicians responsible for treating patients with
progressive disease.
" Innovative therapies matter only if they reach
patients, " Shaw asserts. " Not enough eligible
8
GENengnews.com
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evotec_Nov23_PanOmicsDriven

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