Aditxt Subsidiary Ignite Proteomics Study Published
Aditxt announced that its precision oncology subsidiary, Ignite Proteomics, has been featured in a peer-reviewed study published online ahead of print in npj Precision Oncology, a Nature journal. The study, led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, evaluated outcomes among patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan and assessed multiple quantitative HER2-related assays for their association with treatment outcomes. While conventional HER2 immunohistochemistry showed some association with outcomes in the broader patient population, the study found that quantitative HER2-related assays provided more granular predictive information in several matched biomarker sub-cohorts. In those sub-cohorts, traditional IHC classification often showed limited predictive value compared with quantitative approaches. Ignite's Reverse Phase Protein Array platform, the only commercially available multiplex assay in the study, was one of the quantitative methods that demonstrated meaningful predictive value for patient outcomes. T-DXd is an approved treatment option for a broad population of patients with metastatic breast cancer, yet there is currently no reliable way to predict which patients will respond. "According to several studies, approximately 40% of cancers do not respond to the FDA approved therapy at front line in a metastatic setting," said Jeff Busch, CEO of Ignite Proteomics. In oncology, published research and institutional analyses have shown that approved therapies often fail to benefit a substantial portion of the patients who receive them. A 2017 study published in the BMJ reported that 57% of cancer drug indications approved by the European Medicines Agency entered the market without evidence of improved survival or quality-of-life benefit. MIT researchers have noted that targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors typically work for only 40% to 80% of patients expected to respond. Johns Hopkins has reported that only 15% to 20% of patients achieve durable results with immunotherapy. Ignite's RPPA platform measures multiple protein biomarkers, including pathway activation and payload-relevant markers, from a single tumor sample. In the Dana-Farber study, Ignite's platform was the only commercially available multiplex assay evaluated and demonstrated predictive value in matched biomarker cohorts where conventional HER2 IHC showed limitations. Notably, the study found that TOPO1 expression, the target of T-DXd's cytotoxic payload, was detectable by Ignite's platform in certain HER2-negative patients, highlighting the potential value of measuring tumor biology beyond HER2 expression alone. Ignite's assay is CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited, listed on the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule under AMA CPT code PLA 0249U, and orderable today on standard biopsy tissue.
