Insight Genetics awarded new NCI contract to identify resistance mutations in lung cancer patients
Insight Genetics, Inc., has received a new $1.5 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). A continuation of a Phase I contract NCI awarded to Insight Genetics in 2011, the new contract will allow the company to continue its development of Insight ALK Resistance, a diagnostic test that helps clinicians monitor non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients for resistance to their prescribed cancer therapy.
Targeted therapeutics have been developed that effectively inhibit known genetic drivers of NSCLC such as EGFR and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). However, most patients develop resistance to their prescribed inhibitor within a year. Identification of the genetic driver of a patient’s inhibitor resistance can help a physician choose the appropriate ongoing treatment for the patient.
Insight ALK Resistance is a qPCR-based test that is customizable to detect all clinically identified resistance mutations in the ALK kinase domain or specific mutations, providing results within 48 hours and with minimal tissue requirement. The test can be used for various applications, including providing guidance in monitoring treatment efficacy, clinical decision making for alternative treatments, clinical trial enrollment for next-generation ALK inhibitors, and investigational academic research.
Insight ALK Resistance is currently offered by Insight Molecular Labs, the CLIA-certified subsidiary of Insight Genetics, as a laboratory-developed test. Insight Molecular Labs provides support services for clinical trials on targeted therapeutics, including the identification of appropriate patients for trials, and specializes in the detection and monitoring of molecular-driven drug resistance in patients being treated with specific cancer therapies. Read more about Insight ALK Resistance.
