Third Wave goes for personalized medicine:
>>MADISON, Wis. and TOKYO, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Third Wave Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTI - news) and Daiichi Pure Chemical Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., one of Japan's largest pharmaceuticals companies, today announced that they have formed a collaboration under which Third Wave will develop and supply to Daiichi Pure Chemicals a series of Invader® genetic analysis products for the development of personalized cancer treatments.
Daiichi Pure Chemicals will use the Invader® products in clinical drug trials to validate known associations of patient predisposition to side effects from Irinotecan, a powerful cancer chemotherapeutic drug developed and marketed by Daiichi Pharmaceutical and Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd., with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the UGT 1A1 gene. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan will collaborate with Daiichi Pure Chemicals to assess the clinical utility of the SNPs in an upcoming clinical study that will be conducted there.
Once the associations are demonstrated through the clinical trials using Invader® products, Third Wave and Daiichi Pure Chemicals plan to seek approval from regulatory authorities to market an Invader® diagnostic product in tandem with the prescription and use of Irinotecan. Such an Invader® diagnostic product could have significant implications for the treatment of cancer patients around the world by assisting physicians with determining which cancer patients are best suited for treatment with the drug.
``Daiichi Pure Chemicals is delighted to collaborate with Third Wave as we make the personalized treatment of cancer a reality,'' said Yuzo Yamada, executive vice president of Daiichi Pure Chemicals. ``We chose to work with Third Wave because the accuracy, ease of use and cost-effectiveness of its Invader® products make them ideally-suited for personalized medicine.''
Irinotecan interferes with the growth of cancer cells by inhibiting cell division and eventually killing the diseased cells. It has been approved for the treatment of certain cancers in Japan, Europe and the United States. Sales of Irinotecan in the United States alone doubled in 2000 to $425 million.
``Third Wave is pleased to work with Daiichi Pure Chemicals to improve the quality of care for cancer patients,'' said Lance Fors, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Third Wave. ``Third Wave's collaboration with Daiichi Pure Chemicals is a breakthrough pharmacogenomic effort to improve the market for an existing pharmaceutical product and another example of how Third Wave continues to enable personalized medicine.''<<
snip
Cheers, Tuck |
