apceth and Indivumed to Develop Biomarker Platform for Targeted Cellular Therapies

MUNICH AND HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 22, 2012 /CNW/ - apceth GmbH & Co. KG, located in Munich, Germany, and Indivumed GmbH, based in Hamburg, Germany, have entered into a partnership for the development of a predominantly tissue-based biomarker strategy for the treatment of solid cancers with cellular and / or gene therapeutics. The goal is to predict the response of a targeted cellular / gene therapy in different cancer types and to stratify patients to provide a more individualized cancer treatment with apceth's innovative cell and cell-based gene therapeutics. A reliable biomarker platform will enable oncologists to identify those patients who will most likely benefit from the treatment with apceth's therapeutics, thus establishing a unique and truly personalized therapeutic approach adapted to the needs of each cancer patient.

Since biomarkers for cell and gene therapeutics are not yet available and cancer is still a growing medical problem worldwide, significant demand for an adequate and reliable biomarker platform exists.

Indivumed has specialized in obtaining high-quality biospecimens and clinical data from surgical cancer patients and has established a unique tumor biobank and clinical research infrastructure. A special analytical platform for cancer tissue allows Indivumed to identify and validate protein biomarkers and targets with extremely high reliability in terms of their clinical application. One of Indivumed's strengths is analyzing cancer pathway molecules for predicting drug response. apceth wants to make use of Indivumed's highly regarded tumor tissue bank and its expertise in tissue-based biomarker discovery and validation. Both companies believe that the combination of apceth's therapeutic approach and Indivumed's biomarker platform has the potential to drive future cancer therapeutics and pharmaceutical innovation, thereby making the promises for personalized medicine a reality.

The current project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the Munich Leading-Edge Cluster (project number:01EX1021K).

Both companies look forward to future collaborations for the development of reliable biomarker sets to predict the response of cell therapies in cancer .

About apceth:

apceth was founded in 2007 as a start-up company and is privately owned by its founders and private investors. The work of apceth is centered on the development and clinicial application of pionieering stem cell and gene therapies, particularly for the treatment of malignant diseases. apceth combines the principles of (stem) cell biology with ground-breaking technologies, applying the highest standards for GMP manufacturing, safety regulations and quality control according to national and international regulations. apceth's primary aim is to develop novel cell therapy products for the treatment of clinical conditions for which no satisfactory options are available to date, closing the translational gap between research and clinical application. apceth is continuously expanding its national and international network in order to drive forward-looking innovation in the field of cell and gene therapy and promote its clinical implementation, while also providing contract manufacturing for cell-based therapies (http://www.apceth.com)

About Indivumed:

Indivumed, a German ISO-certified biotech company founded in 2002, maintains the world's leading tumor database and highest-quality biobank for the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies, and provides state-of-the-art services for biomarker discovery based on viable primary human biospecimens. Indivumed's unique infrastructure consisting of partnering cancer clinics, a network of oncologists, its own highly trained study nurses who collect human specimens right in the surgery rooms, combined with its modern laboratories for tissue and cell culturing and molecular testing enables the identification of molecular realities as they display in the patient thereby minimizing misinterpretations due to post-operatively occurring molecular changes. In addition, Indivumed's sister company Inostics has specialized in DNA diagnostic testing services and products for circulating DNA. Indivumed and Inostics have their main offices in Hamburg, Germany, and run subsidiaries, respectively, in Kensington, Maryland, USA and in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.indivumed.com and http://www.inostics.com .

Contact:

Bianca Grebenstein
Tel: [phone]
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