Dive Brief:
- Japanese pharma company Astellas Pharma has hooked up with genome information expert GenomeDx Biosciences to understand more about which patients could benefit the most from treatment with its cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide).
- Astellas will provide tumor samples from the Phase 2 ENACT trial, which is looking at cancer progression in Xtandi-treated patients and those under surveillance without treatment.
- GenomeDx will use its Decipher technology to find the tumor profiles linked with drug response.
Dive Insight:
The deal is likely to be part of Astellas' pledge to continue to maximize the growth of its oncology franchise, in which Xtandi is the most valuable player. In the first nine months of Astellas' 2016 fiscal year, global Xtandi sales grew slightly to roughly $1.68 billion although foreign exchange rates negatively affected Astellas sales overall.
GenomeDx's tech uses genetic profiles to assess tumor aggressiveness in individual patients, and then divides them into risk groups to identify those most likely to benefit from treatment.
The company's collaboration with Astellas Pharma aims to find patients most likely to respond well to Xtandi, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in December 2012. The collaboration also will add more information to GenomeDx's Genomics Resource Information Database (GRID).
"Profiling our study samples through Decipher Classifier and Decipher GRID will provide us with expansive genomic information, allowing Astellas to potentially deliver innovative, targeted therapies to patients most likely to benefit,” Bruce Brown, Astellas' senior medical director of oncology, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The genomic data provided by GenomeDx will help us to better understand the molecular drivers of prostate cancer and how those drivers interact with response to enzalutamide."
Astellas is partnered with now Pfizer-owned Medivation for commercialization of Xtandi. Astellas holds ex-U.S. rights to Astellas, providing Medivation with double-digit royalties from sales. In the U.S., the companies split profits and production and marketing expenses 50/50.