EntroGen Enters Into an Agreement With Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to Develop a Novel Genome-based Test for Ewing's Sarcoma

TARZANA, Calif., Apr 14, 2010 --- Today, EntroGen announced that it has entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to develop a molecular diagnostic test for Ewing’s Sarcoma Family of tumors (EFT).  The test will be based on a highly specific biomarker discovered at CHLA/USC and will offer oncologists a definitive diagnosis of EFT.

Ewing’s Sarcoma is the second most common bone malignancy in children and young adults.  The past 30 years have seen dramatic improvements in the outcome of patients with EFT, largely due to a combination of new drugs, intensified doses and improved supportive care.  However, EFT is still difficult to diagnose due to lack of unique characteristics and biomarkers.  While survival rate of EFT patients has improved in the recent years, a misdiagnosis can lead to the use of wrong treatments and ultimately therapeutic failure.

By comparing the gene expression profiles of EFT and non-EFT tissues, the researchers at Childrens Hospital identified a non-coding RNA transcript that is unique to EFT.  The expression of this gene was shown to be highly associative with Ewing’s Sarcoma tumors and tumor-derived cell lines, but is not expressed in other cancers or healthy tissues.  While the function of this gene is still unknown, its expression appears to have both diagnostic and prognostic values.  A test that detects the expression of this biomarker will provide physicians with a definite diagnosis and reduces the risk of treating EFT and non-EFT patients with inappropriate therapies while improving the rate of disease-free survival.

“We look forward to collaborating with Entrogen to bring a unique and potentially better Ewing's sarcoma diagnostic for clinical use. While academic institutions like ours are able to identify useful diagnostic biomarkers, successful translation to clinical use often benefits from collaboration with commercial entities like Entrogen”, said Dr. Timothy J Triche, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and pathologist-in-chief at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and vice chairman of the Department of Pathology and professor of pathology and pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine.

“We at EntroGen are excited to be collaborating with Childrens Hospital to bring to market novel technologies that improve the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers”, said Matthew Minkovsky, CEO of EntroGen.

ABOUT EntroGen – based in Tarzana, California, it is a bio-technology company developing novel genotyping tests in the areas of pharmacogenomics and oncology. Its mission is to put easy-to-use and inexpensive genotyping tools into the hands of clinical laboratories, making pharmacogenomic testing more accessible to patients and their physicians.

ABOUT CHLA - Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America’s premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932.  The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. 

Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital Los Angeles one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation.  Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only 10 children’s hospitals in the nation – and the only children’s hospital on the West Coast – ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the U.S. News & World Report rankings and named to the magazine’s “Honor Roll” of children’s hospitals.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles also is one of eight children’s hospitals in the nation to receive the “Top Hospital” designation from The Leapfrog Group.  And Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only three pediatric medical centers in the nation to receive both honors – “Top Hospital” from Leapfrog and the “Honor Roll” from U.S. News & World Report.