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Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited and DarwinHealth announced a strategic partnership to use quantitative systems biology-based algorithms and novel, validated approaches focused on tumour checkpoints - a new class of cancer targets - to help prioritize investigational compounds in the Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise pipeline for clinical development.
Utilizing DarwinHealth’s proprietary, oncotecture-based technology, the vast majority of investigational compounds in the Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise portfolio will be evaluated and compared against an extensive repository of patient-derived tumour samples to measure their efficacy in disrupting the master regulator proteins that represent the most critical vulnerabilities of each specific tumour. These studies will provide a comprehensive readout of each compound’s potential clinical value, including its genome-wide mechanism of action, its tumour-specific biomarkers of sensitivity and resistance, and its ability to synergize with other drugs for combination therapy applications. Through quantitative modelling, the developmental trajectory of each potential treatment will be predicted to help Daiichi Sankyo design more effective, successful and focused clinical studies to leverage key opportunities that are currently being missed or may not be identified using traditional methodologies.
“As we begin to see quantitative science revolutionize the approach to clinical development, we are very excited about entering into this partnership with DarwinHealth,” said Igor Matushansky, MD, PhD, global head oncology translational development, Daiichi Sankyo. “These insights will help us to focus on compounds with a higher likelihood of success to ultimately ensure the best treatment options are reaching patients with cancer sooner.”
“Genetics has been the basis of the development of precision medicine, but even more targeted and integrative approaches are now needed to deal with the complexity of cancer,” explained Dr. Andrea Califano, Clyde and Helen Wu Professor and Chair of Systems Biology at Columbia University and co-founder of DarwinHealth. “The evolution of cancer research has expanded our universe from gene mutations to the ultimate effects these genomic alterations have on protein activity. Virtual, computation-based methods have finally achieved the accuracy necessary to systematically detect aberrantly activated proteins representing the master regulators of a cancer cell. We have created sophisticated tools, such as the VIPER algorithm, to identify tightly-knit modules of master regulator proteins – which we call tumour checkpoints – that represent a new class of actionable therapeutic targets in cancer.”
DarwinHealth: Precision Therapeutics for Cancer Medicine is a “frontiers of cancer,” technology-focused company, co-founded by CEO Gideon Bosker, MD, and Professor Andrea Califano, PhD. The company’s technology was developed by the Califano lab over the last 13 years and is exclusively licensed from Columbia University.
