Angle Signs Commercial Agreement with Large Pharma
Angle signs commercial agreement with Large Pharma to develop Parsortix-based androgen receptor
Overview
Angle plc, a world-leading liquid biopsy company with innovative circulating tumour cell (CTC) solutions for use in research, drug development and clinical oncology, announced that it has signed a supplier agreement with Large Pharma to develop a Parsortix-based androgen receptor (AR) detection assay for use in prostate cancer studies.
Terms of Agreement
Under the terms of this agreement, worth £550,000 to Angle, the company will develop a CTC-based AR assay.
Assay development will take place in the Angle's UK laboratories, with project completion expected in Q1 2025.
A successful development phase will demonstrate the importance of the Parsortix system in assessing the efficacy of prostate cancer therapeutics and offers the potential for long-term, ongoing business for the company supporting clinical studies.
Androgen Receptor
Androgen receptor is a nuclear protein involved in cell growth and proliferation, cell cycle progression, protein synthesis, and cell death.
The analysis of Parsortix harvested CTCs using the company's AR assay could enable longitudinal, minimally invasive assessment of AR status throughout clinical studies and during follow-up.
Comments from Angle
• CEO
CEO of Angle, Andrew Newland commented: ""This is further validation of Angle's Parsortix system which shows potential for long-term large-scale revenues in bringing innovative new cancer drugs to the market. We anticipate that success in this first phase of assay development may lead to much larger contracts for use of the assay in clinical trials.""
• CSO
Angle’s chief scientific officer, Karen Miller commented: ""We are delighted our expertise is being put to use in the isolation, harvest, and profiling of CTCs for androgen receptor investigation with the potential for Angle's assays to be used in clinical trials. The new androgen receptor assay will also be an important addition to the menu of assays we can offer other customers.""
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men with 1.5 million new cases diagnosed globally each year and 5 million men living with prostate cancer (5-year prevalence).
The androgen receptor plays a pivotal role in prostate cancer tumour growth and progression with anti-androgen therapy frequently given as first-line treatment.
However, response is variable, and 20-30% of patients go on to develop resistance, resulting in disease progression and the development of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), which is currently incurable.