Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[biopharm]

One of the things she was excited about was building data for what she called an Immuno Score. She was using data from the diagnostic biopsies that all the patients had that led to the diagnosis of their cancer. That would allow them to pick better responding patients (better subsets) for future trials as they would use that similar to way they use ECOG and other scores. I googled immune score and this result led me to believe that she may be contributing to the overall global development on that metric:

The Immunoscore® - as a new possible approach for cancer classification.

Over the past few years, the area of immune regulation at the level of the tumor microenvironment has gained a forefront position in cancer research. At the same time, advances have been made in the development of an immune score, called "Immunoscore"®, as a prognostic factor.

In an effort to promote the Immunoscore in routine clinical settings, a worldwide task force was initiated by Dr Galon.

The working group composed of international expert pathologists and immunologists identified a strategy for the organization of a worldwide participation by various groups for the validation of the Immunoscore

An immune-classification of tumors was proposed based on an immune score, performed by the quantification of two lymphocyte populations (CD3/CD8, or CD3/CD45RO, or CD8/CD45RO), both in the core of the tumor and the invasive margin of the tumor, to establish prognosis of clinical outcome in patients [11]. Importantly, this immune-classification has a prognostic value that may be superior to the AJCC/UICC TNM-classification.


This all should be interesting to biopharm, especially.

Well EB, you got me looking back at this again re: ImmunoScore. I must have missed this last time, but found this link:

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[Intratumoral immune microenvironment and survival: the immunoscore].
Article in Medecine sciences: M/S 30(4):439-44 · March 2014
Impact Factor: 0.52 · DOI: 10.1051/medsci/20143004020 · Source: PubMed

Jerome Galon
43.40 · French Institute of Health and Medical Research

Gabriela Bindea

Bernhard Mlecnik

Helen Angell
22.66 · French Institute of Health and Medical Research

Christine Lagorce

Ana Maria Todosi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262109467_Intratumoral_immune_microenvironment_and_survival_the_immunoscore

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From the immune contexture to the Immunoscore:
the role of prognostic and predictive immune markers in cancer

Helen Angell and Jerome Galon

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jerome_Galon/publication/236195604_From_the_immune_contexture_to_the_Immunoscore_the_role_of_prognostic_and_predictive_immune_markers_in_cancer/links/00b49528b3b8942dd8000000.pdf

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Jerome Galon:

https://fr.linkedin.com/pub/jerome-galon/35/b45/9a

.... next, guess who the #1 on the PAV list is? ==> Helen Angell and she works with AstraZeneca so my guess is since Helen is very well aware of Immunoscore that she is in contact with Nikoletta and CEO Steve King is absolutely correct in saying all this data would be very valuable to any Big Pharma.

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March 24, 2015

French cancer Dx company born after management buyout at Qiagen unit

HalioDx, a new company focused on cancer companion diagnostics, is kicking off operations after a management buyout at Qiagen's ($QGEN) Marseille subsidiary.

The company will comprise Qiagen Marseille's managers and its 75 employees, with CEO Vincent Fert at the helm. HalioDx will develop cancer assays such as Immunoscore, a next-generation test that improves colon cancer prognosis, and will forge collaborations with "key biopharma players" to create immuno-oncology companion diagnostics to predict patient response to several immuno-oncology solid tumor treatments, the company said in a statement.

HalioDx has worldwide licenses on a broad portfolio of patents on immuno-oncology biomarkers, including several immune gene expression signatures. ImmunoScore was recently validated in a large international study, and the company is shooting for CE-mark approval for the test in the next 18 months.

"Considering the strength and scientific value of our worldwide license portfolio, and the need for powerful prognostic and predictive biomarkers in immune-oncology, we are confident we will rapidly bring the Immunoscore into routine clinical practice for colon cancer, and validate innovative predictive immune companion diagnostics for solid tumors," Fert said in a statement. "With these immune-related assays, we will contribute to a new dimension of personalized medicine in oncology, and support clinicians and patients to identify the optimal anti-cancer treatment strategy."

The company recently raised €7.5 million ($8.2 million) in a Series A round, with MI Care, Sham Innovation Santé and Sofipaca contributing funds. HalioDx also counts Qiagen as its first partner, a potentially fruitful collaboration as the company leverages Qiagen's manufacturing and R&D prowess to build its portfolio.

A partnership with HalioDx also stands to benefit Qiagen, as it continues to expand in the field of companion diagnostics through more than 20 collaborative projects. Last year, the company announced it would team up with Novartis ($NVS) to develop tests for the company's drug portfolio. In May, Qiagen said it would join forces with Eli Lilly ($LLY) for the companies' fourth companion diagnostics project, building on the momentum of past collaborations to develop assay panels for cancer. The company recently struck a deal with Astellas Pharma to create companion diagnostics to go along with two of Astellas' cancer drugs.

http://www.fiercediagnostics.com/story/french-cancer-dx-company-born-after-management-buyout-qiagen-unit/2015-03-24

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2013 - Qiagen acquires Ingenuity Systems,[12] extending the company's product portfolio to provide analysis and interpretation of molecular data, from sample to insight.

2015 - Qiagen acquires AdnaGen’s circulating tumor cell enrichment technology to improve its capabilities in liquid biopsies.[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiagen

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Circulating Tumor Cell Detection
Characterize disease progression in Cancer for targeted therapies

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a decisive factor for the emergence of metastases – to be identified and analysed in patient’s blood. The molecular characterization of CTCs offers a portrait of the specific disease state over time. The AdnaTest platform offers a diagnostic tool representing a "liquid biopsy".

http://www.adnagen.com/cfscripts/main.cfm

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Now for an extra bonus for all those still reading... and whom noticed that Jerome Galon is with INSERM and this is "just" one PS recent article blooming out there.

Can phosphatidylserine enhance atheroprotective activities of high-density lipoprotein?

June 30, 2015

Darabi M 1, Kontush A 2.

Author information

1UMR INSERM-UPMC 1166 ICAN, Pavillon Benjamin Delessert, Hôpital de la Pitié, 83 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France. Electronic address: [e-mail].

2UMR INSERM-UPMC 1166 ICAN, Pavillon Benjamin Delessert, Hôpital de la Pitié, 83 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France. Electronic address: [e-mail].

Abstract

Although high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is well known to be protective against atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, therapeutic interventions to raise HDL-cholesterol levels do not translate into reduction in cardiovascular risk. Due to the compositional complexity of HDL particles, molecular determinants of their atheroprotective function still remain to be clarified. Recent structural and functional data identify phospholipid as a major bioactive component of HDL. Such a role has recently been specifically evidenced for phosphatidylserine (PS); indeed, HDL content of PS displayed positive correlations with all metrics of HDL functionality assessed. This review summarizes current knowledge about HDL-associated PS; possible mechanisms for its atheroprotective role are discussed and potential applications of PS to HDL-based therapies are highlighted.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26141129

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