DarwinHealth, Inc. today announced a scientific research collaboration that uses its Biomarker Enrichment Strategies for Assays (BEST platform ) to elucidate novel biomarkers that guide translational trajectories of multiple cancer molecules being developed by Prelude Therapeutics.
Under the collaboration, DarwinHealth will use its proprietary, quantitative, systems biology-based algorithms, CLIA-approved technologies, and validated approaches focused on Protein Master Regulator (MR) and tumor checkpoints to identify novel protein-based biomarkers that will add a significant precision a Selection of patient cohorts for clinical trials to be conducted at Prelude's discretion in hematological and solid tumors.
The goal of this biomarker-focused collaboration, is to assess and characterize the general and tumor-specific mechanisms of action of molecules in the Prelude pipeline in an attempt to identify new biomarkers that can align these agents with responding patient cohorts. In addition, the The collaboration will mechanically characterize potential therapeutic opportunities for Prelude pipeline molecules that target various oncogenic pathways through multiple hematologic malignancies and solid tumor subtypes, as selected by Prelude Therapeutics.The study will leverage the VIPER algorithm to characterize the activity of these various compounds against key Master Regulator (MR) protein modules (tumor checkpoints) required for subtype-specific tumor viability.
- Professor Andrea Califano , Professor and Director of Clyde and Helen Wu , Department of Systems Biology, Columbia Universityand co-founder of DarwinHealth
"The BEST initiative will provide accurate and actionable tumor- and compound-specific information to assess the potential of Prelude's pipeline molecules to reverse the activity of subtype-specific tumor checkpoints," explained Dr. Mariano Alvarez , Chief Scientific Officer of DarwinHealth. "The purpose of such studies is to generate a range of validated compound / tumor subtype / biomarker alignments that represent evidence-based roadmaps and mechanisms for biomarker development and patient selection to potentially accelerate clinical studies."
As part of the BEST initiative, DarwinHealth will provide a comprehensive reading of the potential clinical value of selected Prelude molecules in a spectrum of tumor types. Using quantitative modeling and biomarker-focused translation pathways, DarwinHealth will also assist in the design of in vivo validation studies to exploit key opportunities that may not be apparent with conventional technologies.
"The BEST collaboration addresses one of the critical unmet needs of the biotech and biopharmaceutical spaces focused on cancer drug discovery, that is, the development of highly predictive biomarkers of clinical response to compounds whose ultimate efficacy may be the result of an incompletely decipherable range of both in - and multi-target off-target drug effects of regulatory programs underlying cancer dependencies, These uncertainties lend themselves to extending the concept of biomarkers beyond the primary target (ie, high affinity) of a drug, to multiple protein classifiers identified by our experimental and computational integrative methodologies."
- Dr. Gideon Bosker, CEO and Co-Founder of DarwinHealth.
These technologies are ideal for identifying mechanical alignments between drug candidates and cancer patients based on the ability of drugs to inactivate patient-specific MR proteins that are necessary for maintenance of tumor status. Importantly, these discoveries can rapidly mature into precision biomarker-driven human clinical trials and commercial development.
About DarwinHealth, Inc.
DarwinHealth: Precision Therapeutics for Cancer Medicine is a cancer frontier biotechnology-focused company, co-founded by CEO Gideon Bosker, MD, and Professor Andrea Califano, Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Systems Biology and Chair of the Department of Systems Biology from Columbia University. The company's technology was developed by Califano's laboratory over the past 14 years and is exclusively licensed by Columbia University. DarwinHealth technology has been developed to identify mechanistic and biomarker-driven, processable and often unforeseen alignments at the proteomic level between small molecules and specific tumor subtypes / patient cohorts and is therefore positioned to accelerate the development of oncology pipelines.
About Prelude Therapeutics
Prelude Therapeutics is a precision clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative drug candidates that target critical pathways in cancer cells. The company's main candidate products are designed to be potent and selective oral inhibitors of PRMT5. Prelude's first clinical candidate, PRT543, is in phase 1 development for advanced solid tumors and selected myeloid cancers. Prelude also advances PRT811, a second PRMT5 inhibitor optimized for high brain exposure, in a phase 1 clinical trial that includes glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The company's portfolio also includes its third clinical candidate, PRT1419,