Oxford BioDynamics will start the development of an epigenetic test to screen patients for a favorable response to anti-PD-L1 drugs.
Oxford BioDynamics has announced an agreement with two of the top 10 global pharma to initiate the development of a blood-based test to predict the response to PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Financial terms or the name of the big pharma companies have not been revealed, but we do know that they’re both developing an anti-PD-L1 therapy for NSCLC together.
The agreement concerns the identification of epigenetic biomarkers using Oxford BioDynamics’ EpiSwitch platform, which specifically looks at the regulatory architecture of the genome. If the biomarker identification goes well, the development agreement could be extended into a licensing agreement to develop a blood test based on those biomarkers.
Given the huge competition in the checkpoint inhibitor space, with almost all top pharma having at least one in their pipeline, a screening test to predict the response to the treatment could give its owners a boost over its competitors.
Image via vitstudio / Shutterstock