A Top US Medical Institution Places the First Commercial Order for the Media used to grow Ovarian Cancer Cell Types that are Exceedingly Difficult to Grow and Retain the Signatures of the Patient Derived Sample.
MINNEAPOLIS, June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) (“Predictive” or “the Company”) a knowledge-driven company focused on applying artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery, today announces that Predictive’s TumorGenesis division sold its first order of its unique ovarian cancer cell culture media for cancer cells collected from patient derived samples (PDx) through its distributor US Biological Corporation. The media used to grow the novel and unique ovarian cancer cell lines, licensed by TumorGenesis and its partner, GLG Pharma are able to retain 95%+ of the DNA and RNA as well as crucial proteomic signatures. The media was sold to a top rated medical university in the New England area for research in isolating and growing ovarian cancer cells from the fluid often found in the abdomen of women with advanced ovarian cancer, called the ‘ascites’ fluid. Ovarian cancer cell culturing from ascites fluids are notoriously difficult using standard media mixes often prone to failure and cell lines that are not representative of the patient’s ovarian cancer.
A recent publication highlighted the waste in research using unvalidated media and reagents that showed an increase from $28 billion in 20151 to 2020 experiments are the foundation of preclinical research and development, however, irreproducibility rates in preclinical experiments exceed 50%, costing the industry nearly $48 billion annually2.
“Capturing and culturing and then being able to study ovarian cancer cell types has always been limited by the ability to grow reproducible cultures that reflect what is in the patient”, said Richard Gabriel of TumorGenesis. “We now have isolated and grown 25 ovarian cancer cell types, 11 of that library, represents nearly 95% of all ovarian cancers, many of which have never been cultured prior to this time. This new media will allow researchers around the world to isolate and then culture ovarian cancer cell types and culture them reproducibly to find new targets for treatment, diagnostics or other studies on the close interrelationship of ovarian cancer tumor populations and how they are able to fool a patient’s immune system”, Mr. Gabriel highlighted.
Researchers around the world can now contact US Biological Corporation or Richard Gabriel at TumorGenesis for information on the new media(s) available - rgabriel@tumorgenesis.net.
About Predictive Oncology Inc.
Predictive Oncology (NASDAQ: POAI) operates through three segments (Domestic, International and other), which contain four subsidiaries; Helomics, TumorGenesis, Skyline Medical and Skyline Europe. Helomics applies artificial intelligence to its rich data gathered from patient tumors to both personalize cancer therapies for patients and drive the development of new targeted therapies in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Helomics’ CLIA-certified lab provides clinical testing that assists oncologists in individualizing patient treatment decisions, by providing an evidence-based roadmap for therapy. In addition to its proprietary precision oncology platform, Helomics offers boutique CRO services that leverage its TruTumor™, patient-derived tumor models coupled to a wide range of multi-omics assays (genomics, proteomics and biochemical), and an AI-powered proprietary bioinformatics platform to provide a tailored solution to its clients’ specific needs. Predictive Oncology’s Skyline Medical division markets its patented and FDA cleared STREAMWAY System, which automates the collection, measurement and disposal of waste fluid, including blood, irrigation fluid and others, within a medical facility, through both domestic and international divisions. The company has achieved sales in five of the seven continents through both direct sales and distributor partners. For more information, please visit www.Predictive-Oncology.com.
TumorGenesis, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary specializes in media’s that help cancer cells grow and retain their DNA/RNA and proteomic signatures providing researchers with a tool to expand and study cancer cell types found in tumors of the blood and organ systems of all mammals, including humans. In addition, TumorGenesis is developing a ‘biomarker discovery’ kit and service for life science, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and research institutions. Its products are sold on-line as well as through a global distributor; US Biologicals Corporation: http://www.usbio.net.
Soluble Biotech Inc., a division of Predictive Oncology Inc. has a technology that allows the company to screen proteins for both solubility and stability. The proteins that have been successfully improved by Soluble include vaccines, antibodies and other proteins used in disease treatment. The company can screen 12,000 possible combinations of formulations of any protein using an exceedingly small amount, 25 milligrams and uses a neural network (AI) and other programs to predict the best formulation combination. It confirms the formulations by making a soluble and stable protein solution. The team at Soluble has worked on other viruses and deadly bacteria to come up with formulations of target proteins that can be used to treat, diagnose, or identify specific protein targets for later drug design. Soluble is expanding its reach by offering its services to COVID-19 antibody and vaccine developers. By having a soluble and stable antibody or vaccine candidate at the highest concentration is not only important for final delivery but is also a critical component in pre-clinical testing in animal models as well as in in vitro assays. Over the last 7 years, Soluble has worked for many large pharmaceutical and biotech companies but has also helped smaller companies that mostly outsource their development to outside service companies. Along with the 4 operating machines, each capable of 12,000 screens per machine, it also sells individual kits for researchers whose budgets are constrained.
Soluble Biotech Inc. also specializes in removing, identifying, and isolating endotoxins from products that are used by researchers to culture cells and to help identify endotoxins that maybe hidden within a protective matrix. A notable example is its recent success in completion of a Phase 2 SBIR grant (July 2020 for final report) for the identification of endotoxins in patient samples that have HIV and are experiencing a syndrome known as ‘leaky gut’, where patients in its end result would succumb to septicemia. BioDtech’s detection of the endotoxin in the patient sample, alerts the clinician to start the appropriate therapy ahead of the presentation of the septicemia event. This test also works for patients with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis disease or as a side effect of other drug treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation. BioDtech’s products include a column of beads that extract endotoxins from samples as well as other kits to release bound endotoxins, improving their detection.
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1 2015-Freedman et al-The Economics of Reproducibility in Preclinical Research; PLOS Biology DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002165 June 9, 2015
2 Endpoint News, June 8, 2020; https://endpts.com/sp/48-billion-is-lost-to-avoidable-experiment-expenditure-every-year/