Precision Therapeutics Subsidiary, TumorGenesis, Announces License Agreement with 48Hour Discovery
March 15 2018 - 4:30PM
Precision Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AIPT) (“Precision” or “the
Company”), formerly Skyline Medical, announced today that its
wholly owned subsidiary, TumorGenesis Inc., has secured a license
agreement with 48Hour Discovery (“48HD”) which grants it access to
48HD’s ligand discovery technology. This follows a license
agreement with SyntArray, LLC, announced on March 13th, and is the
latest milestone in the Company’s strategy to bring together
ground-breaking technologies to develop the next generation of
patient derived (“PDx”) tumor models for precision cancer therapy
and drug development.
TumorGenesis is developing a new approach to growing tumor
models in the laboratory that is faster, less costly and more
closely mimics the characteristics of the patient’s tumor, than the
traditional PDx animal models that are currently on the market.
TumorGenesis’ innovative approach is comprised of three key steps:
first, the tumor cells from the patient tumor biopsy are tagged
using peptides targeted to the patient’s specific cancer cells;
second, the tags adhere the cells to a 3D biomimetic support in the
well of a standard 96 well microplate; and third, the tumor cells
are grown in the 3D culture system until ready for testing.
The 48HD ligand discovery technology is vital to the first step
in this process as it screens the patient’s tumor cells against
large peptide libraries to identify the specific peptide ligands
that bind to those cells. Once identified by 48HD’s
technology, SyntArray’s targeted peptide cell capture technology
screens these peptides to determine the best combination that will
capture the cancer cells and allow them to attach and grow on the
3D biomimetic support.
Dr. Carl Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of Precision
Therapeutics, commented, “TumorGenesis is developing a better way
to grow tumors outside the human body so they mimic the environment
inside the patients’ body as closely as possible. This model is
expected to create more accurate results when testing drugs for
personalized therapy and when developing new drugs, compared to
testing with traditional animal or cell culture models. The
innovative 48HD technology allows us to capture all the
heterogeneity of the tumor, including both the cancerous and
non-cancerous cells. This is key to reassembling the tumor on an
artificial ‘scaffold’, or 3D biomimetic support, so it grows in a
way that closely mimics the patient’s body. This will allow
us to offer a superior clinical testing environment which should
drive lucrative partnerships with pharmaceutical companies as they
develop new precision medicines and cancer therapies.”
Testing of patient tumors using the TumorGenesis approach is
expected to:
- Provide a personalized therapy protocol for a patient,
- Provide high-quality data on cancer tumors for a platform based
on the D-CHIP Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform of Helomics
Corporation, pursuant to Precision Therapeutics’ partnership with
Helomics, and
- Drive partnerships with Pharma companies for the development of
new therapies, generating revenues for Precision Therapeutics.
The TumorGenesis PDx model will initially be developed for three
orphan cancers, Multiple Myeloma, Triple-Negative Breast cancer
(TNBC) and Ovarian cancers, all of which are areas that have a high
unmet need for new and effective treatments that are tailored to
patients’ unique tumor profiles. Testing of the TumorGenesis PDx
tumors will take place in collaboration with Helomics.
About Precision Therapeutics Inc.
Precision Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AIPT) operates in two
business areas: first, applying artificial intelligence to
personalized medicine and drug discovery to provide personalized
medicine solutions for clients in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic,
and biotech industries, and second, production of
the FDA-approved STREAMWAY® System for automated,
direct-to-drain medical fluid disposal.
Precision Therapeutics' CRO services business is committed
to improving the effectiveness of cancer therapy using the power of
artificial intelligence (AI) applied to rich data diseases
databases. This business has launched with Precision
Therapeutics' investment in Helomics Corporation, a
precision diagnostic company and integrated clinical contract
research organization whose mission is to improve patient care by
partnering with pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and academic
organizations to bring innovative clinical products and
technologies to the marketplace. In addition to its
proprietary precision diagnostics for oncology, Helomics offers
boutique CRO services that leverage our patient-derived tumor
models, coupled to a wide range of multi-omics assays (genomics,
proteomics and biochemical), and a proprietary bioinformatics
platform (D-CHIP) to provide a tailored solution to our client's
specific needs. Helomics is 25% owned by Precision
Therapeutics. Helomics® is headquartered in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania where the company maintains state-of-the-art,
CLIA-certified, clinical and research laboratories. For more
information, please visit www.Helomics.com. Precision
Therapeutics has also announced the formation of a subsidiary,
TumorGenesis to pursue a new rapid approach to growing tumors in
the laboratory, which essentially “fools” the cancer cells into
thinking they are still growing inside the patient. Precision
Therapeutics and Helomics have also announced a proposed joint
venture with GLG Pharma focused on using their combined
technologies to bring personalized medicines and testing to ovarian
and breast cancer patients, especially those who present with
ascites fluid (over one-third of patients). The growth strategy in
this business includes securing new partnerships and considering
acquisitions in the precision medicine space.
Sold through the Skyline Medical business of Precision
Therapeutics, The STREAMWAY System virtually eliminates staff
exposure to blood, irrigation fluid and other potentially
infectious fluids found in the healthcare environment. Antiquated
manual fluid handling methods that require hand carrying and
emptying filled fluid canisters present an exposure risk and
potential liability. Skyline Medical's STREAMWAY System fully
automates the collection, measurement, and disposal of waste fluids
and is designed to: 1) reduce overhead costs to hospitals and
surgical centers; 2) improve compliance with OSHA and
other regulatory agency safety guidelines; 3) improve efficiency in
the operating room, and radiology and endoscopy departments,
thereby leading to greater profitability; and 4) provide greater
environmental stewardship by helping to eliminate the approximately
50 million potentially disease-infected canisters that go into
landfills each year in the U.S. For additional information,
please visit www.skylinemedical.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain of the matters discussed in this announcement contain
forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and
uncertainties in the Company's business that may cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated by the
statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include risks
related to the proposed joint ventures, including the need to
negotiate the definitive agreements for the joint ventures;
possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of the joint
ventures; and costs of providing funding to the joint ventures.
Other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company include,
among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a
need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the
terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and
may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits,
and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that
can be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales
or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of
customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may
affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by
our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become
profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any
legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and
financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified
senior management personnel, including sales and marketing
personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary
nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our
ability to possibly license from others patents and patent
applications necessary to develop products; the Company's ability
to implement its long range business plan for various applications
of its technology; the Company's ability to enter into agreements
with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with
any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition,
the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory
clearances applicable to applications of the Company's technology;
and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may
be detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available
for review at www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to
buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of
the Company's financial position. See the Company's most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other
filings at www.sec.gov.
Contacts:Investor RelationsKCSA Strategic
CommunicationsElizabeth Barker(212) 896-1203ebarker@kcsa.com
MONEYINFO, LLCCharles
Moskowitz617-827-1296info@moneyinfo-llc.com
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