Aushon BioSystems and Peking University Cancer Hospital Collaboration to Focus on Predictive Diagnostic Biomarkers for Liver Metastases of Colorectal Cancer
Feb 8, 2011 Aushon BioSystems, Inc., a leading provider of multiplex immunoassay products and services announced that it has signed a letter of intent to enter into a diagnostic development collaboration with Peking University Cancer Hospital ("PUCH"), Beijing, China. The primary goal for the collaboration is to develop predictive diagnostic markers for liver metastases of colorectal cancer utilizing Aushon's proprietary suite of protein biomarker detection technologies, and stratification biomarkers for radio-chemotherapy patients. As part of this collaboration, PUCH and Aushon will further negotiate an agreement to grant Aushon exclusive rights In North America and Europe to certain intellectual property generated from the collaboration for diagnostic applications. The research will be conducted under the leadership of Dr. Jin Gu, MD, FACS, Peking University Cancer Hospital, Peking University. Prof. Gu is a world-renowned expert and clinician on colorectal cancer and liver metastasis. He leads a team of scientists and physicians investigating the mechanisms of colorectal cancer metastasis including the identification of biomarkers to predict which patients may develop metastatic disease in liver. Dr. Gu has established a vast library of patient samples, as well as extensive clinical and post-surgery follow-up data that he and his staff have accumulated over the past several years. "We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Aushon on this critical clinical research program," said Dr. Gu. "Aushon's technology has already received widespread market acceptance with leading pharmaceutical companies due to its proven reliability and performance in late stage clinical trials, and has the key attributes we identified for a multiplex diagnostic platform. We are very optimistic that this partnership will lead to the discovery and development of predictive diagnostic markers for primary colorectal cancer metastases in liver, and establishment of new treatment strategies to improve outcomes for our patients." "We're extremely excited that Dr. Gu and his exceptional team at the Peking University Cancer Hospital have selected Aushon as a partner for their project," said Joe Blanchard, COO of Aushon. "We believe Aushon's technology and expertise are ideally suited for this diagnostic development program and expect that this will be the first of several such technical collaborations with Peking University Cancer Hospital and other leading research institutions in Asia". The collaboration was initiated and facilitated by the US Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (USCACA). "This collaboration marks another important milestone for USCACA in promoting US-China collaborations in cancer research, drug development, and patient care," remarked Dr. Li Yan, Managing Director of USCACA and adjunct professor at PUCH. "I am thrilled to see PUCH taking a leadership position in the area of personalized medicine, and look forward to the successful results of their collaboration with Aushon." Aushon also recently announced its partnership with LightArray Biotech, a drug development service company located in Wuxi, China. This partnership enables Aushon to provide its multiplex biomarker products and services to pharmaceutical clients in China.
About Peking University Cancer Hospital (PUCH) PUCH is one of China's largest and most renowned hospitals focusing specifically on cancer research and treatment. It has 790 hospital beds, 26 clinical departments and 13 medical technological departments. PUCH has been engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of various tumors, including breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal carcinoma, malignant lymphoma, gynecological cancer, tumor of head and neck, tumor of urological system, bone tumor and melanoma. The hospital advocates the cooperation of multiple disciplines, integrates the medical sources of all departments, and has established different cooperative groups for mono-disease including breast cancer, gastric cancer, lymphoma, and liver cancer, to provide normalized and individualized combined treatment for the patients. The hospital is also a member of the national base for clinical pharmacology. From 2000 to 2007, our hospital has completed 76 clinical trials, of which 52 were domestic clinical trials, 10 international multi-center clinical trials, and 14 clinical trials for medical equipment. There are currently 35 domestic clinical trials, 11 international multi-center clinical trials, and 4 clinical trials for medical equipment taking place at PUCH.
About Aushon BioSystems Aushon BioSystems provides a comprehensive suite of microarray instruments, consumables and services to leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and diagnostic clients worldwide. Our unique combination of advanced microarray printing technology, robust biomarker content and innovative multiplex immunoassay development and detection systems delivers exceptional performance, quality and reliability that accelerate pre-clinical and clinical biomarker research. Our customers trust us to provide the most reliable protein biomarker data available, which lowers costs and improves research productivity. For more information, please visit www.aushon.com.
About US Chinese Anti Cancer Association (USCACA), USCACA is a non-profit professional organization founded in 2009. With a broad membership base spanning academia, industry and government agencies, USCACA facilitates collaborations among cancer researchers and physicians from the United States and China in the areas of cancer research, cancer drug R&D, as well as patient care and support. One of the organization's current focuses is on safely expediting novel cancer drug development by fostering global clinical trial collaborations, sharing best practices and knowledge of clinical trials, and providing education and training opportunities. USCACA collaborates with Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (CACA), Chinese Society for Clinical Oncology (CSCO), and other professional associations. Our mandate is to improve cancer treatments through research, education, and collaboration. For more information, please visit www.uscaca.org
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