RCS - Angle PLC - Identifying drug targets in cancer metastasis

AngleAnnouncement

01/04/2022 07:15

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RNS Number : 8579G  Angle PLC  01 April 2022

 For immediate release   01 April 2022

 

ANGLE plc ("the Company")

 

PARSORTIX SYSTEM DEMONSTRATES ABILITY TO ISOLATE CTCs FOR DOWNSTREAM MOLECULAR
ANALYSIS, IDENTIFYING KEY DRUG TARGETS INVOLVED IN CANCER METASTASIS

 

World-class research identifies specific genetic steps in the metastatic
process, paving the way to test targeted treatment approaches

 

Metastatic process driven by invasion of CTCs and CTC clusters found to be
dependent on druggable gene targets

 

ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL OTCQX:ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company, is
pleased to announce that the Molecular Oncology Laboratory at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland, has published
results of work undertaken in preclinical models of metastatic breast cancer
(MBC), where they have identified specific genes involved in various steps of
the metastatic process. This included actionable targets found to be required
for the formation of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and their seeding at
secondary metastatic tumour site. In a preclinical model, targeted therapy was
found to reduce metastasis and has the potential to improve patient outcomes.

 

Researchers used ANGLE's Parsortix(®) system to isolate single CTCs and CTC
clusters from preclinical MBC models engineered with CRISPR technology, and
the CTCs were analysed using DNA sequencing. The team identified
metastasis-relevant genes, where loss-of-function of the genes resulted in
decreased CTC cluster generation and reduced metastatic burden. This has
clinical relevance as it has been estimated that CTC clusters have 23-50-fold
increased metastatic potential compared to single CTCs and confer a higher
risk of death in MBC patients. The authors also identified actionable gene
targets, such as PLK1, that are required for the formation of both single CTCs
and CTC clusters. Treatment with approved targeted therapy reduced CTC
shedding and metastasis formation in the preclinical model. This is
particularly relevant to patient outcomes given that ~90% of cancer deaths are
a result of metastasis.

 

This study adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the ability of
the Parsortix system to isolate single CTCs and CTC clusters, enabling the
identification of actionable targets involved in the metastatic spread of
cancer. This research has potential clinical applicability in discovering and
testing, new and existing, targeted therapies.

 

In the United States, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in
women with 287,000 new cases expected in 2022, accounting for 31% of all new
cancer cases. It is estimated that 6% of patients have metastatic disease at
diagnosis and approximately 20-30% of all breast cancer patients will
eventually develop metastatic disease. Identification of appropriate targets
will be essential to enable the development of targeted therapies for MBC.

 

Prof Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich, commented:

"Our study provides a novel CTC-based tool to study spontaneous breast cancer
metastasis in a highly clinically relevant fashion. Using this model in
combination with a CRISPR-based approach, we demonstrate the involvement of
targetable players in the metastatic spread of cancer, with potential clinical
applicability."

 

ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, added:

"We are pleased to report on the use of the Parsortix system for the isolation
of single CTCs and CTC clusters in preclinical MBC models, allowing the
identification of actionable targets involved in cancer metastasis. ANGLE's
ability to provide such actionable insight shows potential to guide targeted
drug development, which can be achieved through our growing pharma services
business."

 

The research has been published as a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal
Cancer Research and is available online at
https://angleplc.com/library/publications/
(https://angleplc.com/library/publications/) .

 

For further information:

 

 ANGLE plc                                   +44 (0) 1483 343434
 Andrew Newland, Chief Executive

 Ian Griffiths, Finance Director

 Andrew Holder, Head of Investor Relations

 Berenberg (NOMAD and Joint Broker)

 Toby Flaux, Ciaran Walsh, Milo Bonser       +44 (0) 20 3207 7800

 Jefferies (Joint Broker)                    +44 (0) 20 7029 8000

 Max Jones, Thomas Bective

 FTI Consulting

 Simon Conway, Ciara Martin                  +44 (0) 203 727 1000

 Matthew Ventimiglia (US)                    +1 (212) 850 5624

 

For Frequently Used Terms, please see the Company's website on
https://angleplc.com/investor-relations/glossary/
(https://angleplc.com/investor-relations/glossary/)

 

Notes for editors

 

About ANGLE plc www.angleplc.com (http://www.angleplc.com)

ANGLE is a world leading liquid biopsy company with sample-to-answer
solutions. ANGLE's proven patent protected platforms include a circulating
tumor cell (CTC) harvesting technology and a downstream analysis system for
cost effective, highly multiplexed analysis of nucleic acids and proteins.

 

ANGLE's cell separation technology is called the Parsortix(®) system, and
it enables a liquid biopsy (a simple blood test) to be used to provide the
cells of interest to the user in a format suitable for multiple types of
downstream analyses.  The system is based on a microfluidic device that
captures cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility.  The
system is epitope independent and can capture all types of CTCs as well as CTC
clusters in a viable form (alive).  CTCs enable the complete picture of a
cancer to be seen; as being an intact cell they allow DNA, RNA and protein
analysis and may provide comparable analysis to a tissue biopsy. Because CTC
analysis is a non-invasive process, unlike tissue biopsy, it can be repeated
as often as needed. This is important because cancer develops and changes over
time and there is a clear medical need for up-to-date information on the
status of a patient's tumor. In addition, the live CTCs harvested by the
Parsortix system can be cultured, which offers the potential for testing tumor
response to drugs outside the patient.

 

The Parsortix technology is the subject of 26 granted patents in Europe, the
United States, China, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Mexico with three
extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide.

 

The Parsortix system has a CE Mark in Europe for the indicated use and, in the
United States, a De Novo Submission has been made to FDA for the Parsortix(®)
PC1 system seeking FDA clearance with Class II Classification for use with
metastatic breast cancer patients. FDA clearance is seen as the global
standard. ANGLE is seeking to be the first ever FDA cleared system for
harvesting CTCs for subsequent analysis.

 

ANGLE has also completed two separate 200 subject clinical studies under a
program designed to develop an ovarian cancer pelvic mass triage test, with
the results showing best in class accuracy (AUC-ROC) of 95.1%. The pelvic mass
triage assay has undergone further refinement and optimisation and a 200
patient clinical verification study has now completed enrolment.

 

ANGLE's technology for the multiplex evaluation of proteins and nucleic acids
of all types is called the HyCEAD(TM) platform and is based on a patented flow
through array technology. It provides for low cost, highly multiplexed, rapid
and sensitive capture of targets from a wide variety of sample types. A
proprietary chemistry approach (the HyCEAD method) allows for the capture and
amplification of over 100 biomarkers simultaneously in a single reaction. The
HyCEAD system is extremely sensitive and is ideal for measuring gene
expression and other markers directly from Parsortix harvests and was used in
the ovarian cancer pelvic mass triage test to achieve best in class accuracy
(AUC-ROC) of 95.1%.

 

ANGLE's proprietary technologies can be combined to provide automated,
sample-to-answer results in both centralised laboratory and point-of-use
cartridge formats.

 

ANGLE has established formal collaborations with world-class cancer centres
and major corporates such as Abbott, Philips and QIAGEN, and works closely
with leading CTC translational research customers. These Key Opinion Leaders
(KOLs) are working to identify applications with medical utility (clear
benefit to patients), and to secure clinical data that demonstrates that
utility in patient studies. The body of evidence as to the benefits of the
Parsortix system is growing rapidly from our own clinical studies in
metastatic breast cancer and ovarian cancer and also from KOLs with 59
peer-reviewed publications and numerous publicly available posters, available
on our website.

 

ANGLE has established clinical services laboratories in the UK and USA to
accelerate commercialisation of the Parsortix system and act as demonstrators
to support product development. The laboratories offer services to
pharmaceutical and biotech customers for use of Parsortix in cancer drug
trials and, once the laboratories are accredited and tests validated, will
provide Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) for patient management.

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