DxS (Manchester, UK) and Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany) entered into an agreement to provide a companion diagnostic test kit for Boehringer’s compound BIBW 2992 (Tovok) to identify mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Financial terms of the agreement are not disclosed.
Clinical data published to date suggest that BIBW 2992 offers a marked increase in efficacy in comparison to standard treatments for lung cancer patients carrying mutations in the EGFR gene. Under the terms of the agreement, DxS and Boehringer will work jointly to make a suitable companion diagnostic test kit globally available.
BIBW 2992 is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor that acts by irreversibly blocking the EGFR /HER2 receptors. As with other tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies, patients with mutations in the EGFR gene will be more likely to respond to a medication that targets these receptors, thereby allowing doctors to prescribe the most effective and individual treatment. Furthermore, BIBW 2992 has demonstrated preclinical activity against erlotinib and gefitinib resistant mutations.
The DxS EGFR companion diagnostic is a real-time PCR assay, designed to detect the most common mutations in the EGFR gene. The diagnostic has been developed and manufactured at DxS’ head office in Manchester, UK. and will be available later in the summer for Boehringer’s global, multicentre Phase III clinical trial for BIBW 2992.
