Aclara Biosciences (NASDAQ:ACLA)
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ACLARA Data at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium Demonstrates ETAG(TM)
System Potential in Cancer Drug Development and Treatment Prognosis
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and GENEVA, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACLARA
BioSciences (NASDAQ:ACLA) today announced that researchers presented four
posters at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on "Molecular Targets and Cancer
Therapeutics" in Geneva, Switzerland. The posters demonstrate the capabilities
of the company's eTag(TM) System to selectively and quantitatively detect
various protein-protein interactions involved in the aberrant activation of
tyrosine kinase, a receptor which when activated is highly correlated to cancer
cell proliferation, tumor growth and ultimately to poor patient prognosis.
"These posters provide an overview of the potential of the eTag System to
improve the management of cancer by facilitating individualized treatment based
on the specific molecular phenotype of the patient's tumor," commented Sharat
Singh, Ph.D., ACLARA's chief technical officer. "We show for the first time
that eTag assays can provide quantitative information about receptor
dimerization patterns in breast and lung cancer. In addition, the ability of
the eTag System to assess the potency of various anti-tumor compounds in
development is addressed."
ACLARA's eTag assays enable detailed analysis of protein drug targets and
signaling pathways in cancer cells. Of note, the assay can be performed on
samples that are formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, the standard format of
tissue preparation employed in most pathology labs. In an environment where
small molecule inhibitors and antibody therapeutics are increasingly available
for the treatment of cancer, the eTag System may enhance the ability of the
physician to identify patients who are likely to respond to
specifically-targeted therapies, as well as streamline patient selection for
clinical trials, resulting in potential cost savings and accelerated pace of
drug development.
Poster Details
1. "IC50 determination for HER family receptor-targeted compounds and
downstream signaling." Hossein Salimi-Moosavi, Jin Xueguang, Youssouf
Badal , Sailaja Pidaparthi, Yining Shi, Hasan Tahir, Hrair Kirakossain,
and Sharat Singh (Poster # P 083877)
This poster demonstrates that utilizing the multiplexed eTag Assay System for
the detection of receptor dimerization, phosphorylation, and signaling pathway
activation can serve as a reliable tool for the screening of cancer drug
candidates in a rapid and efficient manner as compared to other currently
existing methods. Specifically, the authors looked at the activity of 12
targeted cancer drug candidates currently in development that are believed to
inhibit the phosphorylation of tyrosine kinases at the receptor level as well
as downstream signaling pathways. The researchers showed that the drug
candidates achieved varying degrees of inhibition of phosphorylation of
tyrosine kinases and downstream mediators, and therefore concluded that the
ability of these drug candidates to inhibit cell proliferation and tumor growth
may vary significantly.
2. "Differential HER family receptor dimerization and downstream signaling
in cancer cell lines." Hossein Salimi-Moosavi, Xueguang Jin, Youssouf
Badal, Tina Tian, Sailaja Pidaparthi, Jing Wei, Caroline Samain, Hasan
Tahir, Hrair Kirakossian, and Sharat Singh. (Poster # P 083876)
ACLARA scientists developed multiplexed proximity-based eTag assays for the
assessment of HER family receptor dimerization and signaling pathway activity
(phosphorylation) to streamline analyses of in vitro and in vivo models of
cancer. The analysis demonstrates unique signaling patterns that are a
function of differential EGFR, HER2 or HER3 receptor expression in various
cancer cell lines, and establishes the validity of using the eTag Assay System
for signaling pathway profiling.
3. "Development of Proximity based assay to detect and quantify erbB (or
HER) receptor dimerization in formalin fixed-paraffin embedded tissue
sections." R. Dua, Y. Shi, A. Mukherjee, S. Pidaparthi, H. Kirakossian,
L. Cao, Y. Tan, L. Jarvis, S. Gangakhedkar, H. Pannu, A. Chenna, T.
Nguyen, J. Wallweber, H. Tahir, and S. Singh. (Poster # P 083879)
The eTag system can be used to determine the activation status of the erbB/HER
receptor pathway in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) clinical samples
for the purpose of correlating pathway activation with disease prognosis and
probability of response to targeted therapies. Over-expression of erbB/HER
receptors in a number of cancers is highly correlated with disease progression
and poor prognosis. However, recent clinical trials have shown that
over-expression of erbB receptors alone is not sufficient to predict clinical
outcome. A thorough analysis of the activation status of the erbB pathway may
lead to more accurate targeting of specific antagonists. The eTag System is
simple, sensitive, and provides a quantitative assessment of HER-family protein
dimerization using FFPE specimens.
4. "Prevalence of erbB/HER receptor dimerization in breast and lung
cancer." Sailaja Pidaparthi, Jing Wei, Caroline Samain, Yining Shi,
Jerry Wallweber, Ahmed Chenna, Hasan Tahir, and Sharat Singh (Poster #
P 083878)
Increases in erbB/HER dimerization levels are associated with increased
tyrosine kinase activity resulting in uncontrolled cell proliferation and
inhibition of apoptosis. ACLARA scientists developed eTag assays to detect and
quantify the different types of erbB/HER dimers that are found in breast and
lung cancer tissues. The poster demonstrates that eTag technology may serve as
a valuable prognostic and diagnostic tool by helping to select patients with
breast or lung cancer for targeted therapy, as well as assessing the efficacy
of treatment by accurately measuring the activation state of the receptor
during therapy. This assay system represents the first quantitative method for
the assessment of activation signatures of the erbB/HER family of receptors.
Researchers found that all tumor samples had higher HER-2 levels compared to
normal breast samples, but ErbB/HER dimerization was detected in tumor tissues
only -- not in normal breast tissues, whether matched with the same donor or
not. ETag quantitative dimerization assays showed the presence of differential
amounts of HER-1/2 and/or HER-2/3 and/or HER-2/2 dimers in different breast
cancer tissues of either ductal or lobular types. Similarly, lung tumor samples
showed heterogeneous dimerization profiles from patient to patient.
About ACLARA
Founded in 1995, ACLARA is a biotechnology company working to provide
physicians and researchers products and services to make personalized medicine
a reality through its protein-based assay technology -- the eTag(TM) System.
ACLARA is dedicated to unlocking the power of pathway biology to accelerate the
development of next-generation targeted therapeutics, recognizing the most
appropriate patients for approved therapies and identifying the
highly-specific, protein-based biomarkers that will enable physicians to create
truly personalized treatment regimens for patients suffering from cancer and
other life-threatening disorders.
ACLARA is commercializing its proprietary eTag System to enhance and accelerate
drug discovery research and the preclinical and clinical development of
targeted therapeutics. ACLARA's technology may also enable the development of
highly specific, protein-based diagnostics capable of providing physicians with
a powerful tool for creating personalized treatment regimens for patients
suffering from serious and difficult-to-treat cancers. For more information on
ACLARA please visit the Company's web site at http://www.aclara.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this news release that are not historical are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as
amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially for ACLARA from those projected.
Those factors include risks and uncertainties relating to the performance of
our products, anticipated progress in commercialization of our eTag(TM) Assay
System; the potential for use of our eTag assays in clinical development
programs; the potential for use of our eTag assays as diagnostic tests; our
ability to successfully conduct clinical studies and the results obtained from
those studies; our ability to establish reliable, high-volume operations at
commercially reasonable costs; expected reliance on a few customers for the
majority of our revenues; actual market acceptance of our products and adoption
of our technological approach and products by pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies; our estimate of the size of our markets; our estimates of the levels
of demand for our products; our ability to develop organizational capabilities
suitable for the further development and commercialization of our eTag assays;
the ultimate validity and enforceability of our patent applications and
patents; the possible infringement of the intellectual property of others;
technological approaches of ACLARA and our competitors; our pending merger with
ViroLogic, Inc., including the risk that the closing conditions or the merger
may not be satisfied and the merger may not be completed, and costs related to
the proposed merger; and other risk factors identified in our Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2004 and in the Joint Proxy/Prospectus related to our
proposed merger as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NOTE: ACLARA BioSciences is a registered trademark, and eTag and the ACLARA
logo are trademarks of ACLARA BioSciences, Inc.
DATASOURCE: ACLARA BioSciences, Inc.
CONTACT: Alfred Merriweather, VP, Finance and CFO of ACLARA,
+1-650-210-1200, or
Web site: http://www.aclara.com/