The new high throughput-screening platform, HuScreen, assesses a candidate compound’s antitumor efficacy using the company’s PDX model collection, HuPrime.
According to the company, HuPrime is the “largest commercially available portfolio of well-characterized and annotated PDX,” with nearly 3,000 models over more than 70 clinical indications.
“Given the high cost of drug development and the low rate of success of compounds advancing in the clinic, preclinical oncology research needs to be refined, with the development of better assays and models,” said Jean Pierre Wery, president of Crown Bioscience.
Last year the company acquired all of Molecular Response’s existing PDX models, as well as 8,000 viable human tumors for model development.
The models allow researchers to test tens of compounds as single agents or combination therapies on hundreds of PDX models to assess population responses.
“Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, in which one drug will not work for all patients,” said Henry Li, vice president of Translational Oncology at CrownBio. “The identification of predictive biomarkers and genetic signatures in the patient population could greatly facilitate stratification in the clinic, and increase the chances of success for new agents.”
“HuScreen can replicate the multitude of clinical trial designs in a preclinical setting, which will enable clients to make informed decisions on lead candidates and patient selection while reducing costs and time to market,” said Li.
HuScreen will focus initially on indications such as colorectal, gastric, lung, ovarian, and breast cancer; however, it will be expanded to cover more cancer types in the near future.