Epirubicin is a cornerstone in the treatment of primary and advanced breast cancer. Usually about 50% will benefit with a reduction in their tumor size. Until now there has been no method to find out who will benefit and who will not. The current study looked at 135 epirubicin treatments to evaluate Medical Prognosis Institutes Epirubicin Drug Response Predictor (DRP™) in-licensed by Oncology Venture. The DRP was significantly associated to Progression Free Survival (PFS). PFS is a measure of the total time epirubicin can block tumor growth. The estimated median time to progression for a patient with a DRP value of 25% was 7 months versus 13 months for a patient with a DRP value of 75%. An up-date of data on the poster showed a Hazard Ratio of 0.35 for an 80% points difference in DRP score meaning that the patient has a three times longer benefit (Time to progression -TTP) of the drug at a DRP score of 90 compared to a DRP score of 10.

The result is also of high value to MPI as epirubicin response prediction is an important part of building a broader Personalized Response Prediction Compass for individual patients and for Oncology Ventures spinout 2X Oncology Inc. in developing the GSH-liposomal- doxorubicin for breast and brain cancer with the company’s in-licensed product 2X-111.

2X-111 will be developed in two focused Phase 2 trials in metastatic Breast Cancer and in Glioblastoma in 2X Oncology Inc. a precision medicines company for Women’s Cancers – a spinout from Oncology Venture currently 92% owned by Oncology Venture 

“It is a pleasure to see the epirubicin DRP™ data presented at the annual ASCO meeting. We have already had and have ongoing good interest and traction based on the published abstract behind the poster”, said Adjunct Professor Peter Buhl Jensen, M.D., CEO of Oncology Venture. “The ability to being able to predict whether the individual metastatic breast cancer patient benefits from epirubicin has the potential to improve cancer treatment for a group of patients that traditionally receives many lines of treatments. Epirubicin and doxorubicin are used in many different cancers and the DRP is of value for treatment of several tumor types as lymphoma, multiple myeloma, sarcomas, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancers”, Peter Buhl Jensen further commented. 

ASCO, American Society of Clinical Oncology, ANNUAL MEETING. McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Founded in 1964, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is committed to making a world of difference in cancer care. As the world’s leading organization of its kind, ASCO represents more than 40,000 oncology professionals who care for people living with cancer. ASCO is considered the premiere international forum for the presentation of scientific research and state-of-the-art education in clinical oncology. The five-day event attracts 30,000 attendees from around the world. Clinical trial results and updates presented at ASCO's Annual Meeting represent the significant progress made each year in the fight against cancer.

For further information on Oncology Venture please contact

About the DRP™ Companion Diagnostic

Developed by and in-licensed from Medical Prognosis Institute, the DRP™ screening platform utilizes messenger RNA (mRNA) gene expression signatures from patient biopsies to identify patients with a high likelihood of responding to specific cancer-fighting therapies. This DRP™ method builds on the comparison of sensitive vs. resistant human cancer cell lines, including genomic information from cell lines, combined with clinical tumor biology and clinical correlates in a systems biology network. Specific DRP™’s are developed for each pipeline product, which will enable us to identify and predict which patients are most likely to respond and thereby benefit from a given pipeline product.  This would enable likely responders to receive appropriate treatment while expediting the decision path for predicted non-responders, saving them critical time and money in their cancer fight. 

About Oncology Venture Sweden AB (OV)

OV is engaged in the research and development of anti-cancer drugs via its wholly owned Danish subsidiary Oncology Venture ApS. Oncology Venture has a license to use Drug Response Prediction – DRP™ – in order to significantly increase the probability of success in clinical trials. DRP™ has proven its ability to provide a statistically significant prediction of clinical outcomes from drug treatment in cancer patients in 29 of the 37 clinical studies that were examined. The Company uses a model that alters the odds in comparison with traditional pharmaceutical development. Instead of treating all patients with a particular type of cancer, patients’ tumors genes are screened first and only those who are most likely to respond to the treatment will be treated. Via a more well-defined patient group, the risk and costs are reduced while the development process becomes more efficient.

The current product portfolio: LiPlaCis for Breast Cancer in collaboration with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Irofulven developed from a fungus for prostate cancer and APO010 – an immuno-oncology product for Multiple Myeloma.

Oncology Venture has spun out 2X Oncology Inc. a company focused on developing precision medicine for women’s cancer with three anticancer products in pipeline and OV-SPV2 which will test and potentially develop an oral Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor from a Big Pharma the treatment of cancers.