Natera and CytoDyn Announce Strategic Collaboration
Natera (NTRA) and CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) announced a strategic collaboration to evaluate circulating tumor DNA dynamics and generate real-world molecular insights to support CytoDyn's metastatic colorectal cancer development program. Under the agreement, Natera will assess CytoDyn clinical trial samples from the CLOVER Phase 2 study in patients with mCRC. Signatera, Natera's personalized assay for the detection of molecular residual disease, will be used to evaluate ctDNA dynamics and molecular response patterns associated with leronlimab treatment. Natera will also provide customized real-world data analyses leveraging its proprietary oncology database, which is the largest multi-timepoint early- and late-stage oncology dataset with more than 2 million plasma timepoints and enriched clinical and imaging records. By integrating molecular response data from its MRD testing platform with curated electronic medical record data, this multimodal dataset enables analyses of patient populations, treatment patterns, ctDNA response rates, and response dynamics across diverse clinical settings. Together, these capabilities are expected to generate insights into molecular response and disease progression that may help inform future clinical development of leronlimab, including clinical trial design, biomarker-driven patient selection strategies, and broader translational research efforts. The collaboration builds on CytoDyn's growing oncology program and follows completion of enrollment in the CLOVER study, which is evaluating leronlimab in combination with trifluridine/tipiraci and bevacizumab in patients with previously treated mCRC. The collaboration is also expected to complement ongoing translational and biomarker analyses from the study aimed at further characterizing treatment response and informing future development strategies.
