Molecular Response Hosts Webinar to Discuss Changing Paradigms in Oncology Drug Efficacy Studies

—-Proprietary platform combines world’s largest viable tumor bank with
3D ex vivo test systems and patient derived xenograft mouse models—

San Diego, CA – April 18, 2012 – Molecular Response (MRL), a privately held molecular diagnostic services company and a leader in identification of target populations for high value therapeutics, today announced that it will host a webinar on October 9, 2012 to discuss the company’s proprietary drug testing platform, which combines 144,000 viable cryopreserved human tumor specimens, high content 3D ex vivo test systems and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) in vivo platforms.

To register for the webinar, visit: www.xenograft-webinar.com

The October 9th webinar will focus on use of patient-derived models to better understand drug response in a preclinical setting. The Molecular Repsonse platform enables use of the same patient material to create matched cell culture and animal models, enabling both ex vivo and in vivo studies in far more clinically relevant settings than previously possible using traditional cell lines in plastic dishes.

The webinar will focus on some of the key ex vivo 3D studies and in vivo PDX work performed at Molecular Response, including: target identification/validation, lead optimization, candidate selection, patient selection, combination agent approaches, and companion diagnostic development. Thomas Broudy, PhD, CSO and co-founder of Molecular Response will host the webinar.

“Our partners rely on our patient-derived models to make more confident decisions about their clinical strategy before actually going into the clinic,” said Broudy. “In a single study we might investigate a population of 20-50 patients using multiple test systems with multiple endpoints. That information affords an unprecedented understanding of drug response across a diverse population; as you might guess, we really think we have something novel and valuable to offer to the world of translational medicine.”

About Molecular Response
Molecular Response is a leader in advancing targeted therapeutics through intelligently designed, clinically validated companion diagnostics. Our goal is to reduce risk and cost of therapeutic drug development for our partners by translating clinically relevant molecular response marker data into high-value knowledge while fully integrating into existing pharmaceutical development processes and programs. Our results reduce risk and cost of drug development and allow for the most informed decisions with the best chance of success to advance therapeutic programs.

For additional information please visit www.molecularresponse.com

Contact Information:

Molecular Response
Lewis Vann, PhD
lvann@molecularresponse.com

 Genomic DNA is a key component to understanding cancer, a disease characterized by DNA sequence abnormalities.  Genomic DNA from these tumors can be used for sequencing, mutation and SNP detection, population mutation frequency analysis, and copy number determination.  The large bank of specimens available at Molecular Response will greatly reduce the amount of time spent by researchers in locating significant sets of specimens to use in studies. 

 The genomic DNA available at Molecular Response is isolated from over 12,000 individual tumors, representing over 60 different cancer indications, collected from a de-identified US population over the last 20 years.  With cryopreseved tumor cells as the source of DNA, Molecular Response offers quality genomic DNA that has not been subjected to the adverse effects of formalin fixation.   Additionally, since the tumors have been disaggregated, the genomic DNA is representative of the entire sample, correcting for intratumor heterogeneity.  Each specimen is annotated by cancer indication, gender, age, collection site, clinical diagnosis, histology, and pathology review. 

 With viable cryopreserved tumor cells as the source of DNA, researchers have the unique opportunity to go back to Molecular Response’s proprietary tumor bank to resurrect cells with specific molecular characteristics to test for drug activity or other pharmacodynamic effects. 

 Offering genomic DNA from Molecular Response’s patient-derived primary tumor cell bank is a natural extension of the services that Molecular Response provides to cancer researchers. By leveraging such a large bank in combination with rapidly advancing capabilities in the genomics field, Molecular Response looks to equip researchers with the tools necessary to advance the understanding of cancer.  

About Molecular Response

 Molecular Response is a leader in advancing targeted therapeutics through intelligently designed, clinically validated companion diagnostics.  Our goal is to reduce risk and cost of therapeutic drug development for our partners by translating clinically relevant molecular response marker data into high-value knowledge while fully integrating into existing pharmaceutical development processes and programs.  Our results reduce risk and cost of drug development and allow for the most informed decisions with the best chance of success to advance therapeutic programs. 

For additional information please visit www.molecularresponse.com. 

Contact Information:

Molecular Response

Steve Hoffmaster
858.622-2950
shoffmaster@molecularresponse.com

Date: March 31st – April 4th

Location: McCormick Place West, Chicago, Illinois

Visit Molecular Response at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting to learn more about our viable tumor bank and client services.

San Diego, CA — September 20, 2010 — Molecular Response (MRL), a privately held molecular diagnostic services company and a leader in the identification of target populations for high value therapeutics, announced today the appointment of Cyrus K. Mirsaidi to Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Mirsaidi will be focused on fostering strategic partnerships, continuing development of the company’s intellectual property, and growing Molecular Response into a successful molecular diagnostic service company. Dr. Masood Tayebi will continue to serve as Molecular Response’s Executive Chairman and continue to support growth of the company through his dynamic leadership.

“We are glad to have Cyrus, a strong leader in the diagnostic industry, join the Molecular Response Team as CEO,” said Chairman, Dr. Masood Tayebi. “We are focusing on getting the right therapeutic to the right patient by developing diagnostics that support revolutionary therapeutic treatments. Through his leadership I am positive we can make a difference in the treatment of debilitating diseases like cancer.”

Mr. Mirsaidi brings both practical and strategic senior management experience in drug discovery, biomarker development, and clinical diagnostics. He held several senior level management positions in his ten-year career at Nichols Institute Diagnostics (a division of Quest Diagnostics), where he was responsible for global launch of clinical diagnostic IVD tests and automated platforms. As general manager and executive director at Ontogen, a small molecule discovery company, he managed operations of a subsidiary focused on high throughput synthesis and purification of novel compounds. Most recently, Mr. Mirsaidi served as Vice President at AltheaDx, a San Diego biotechnology company, where he led the business development and licensing efforts with pharmaceutical partners.

“I am pleased to lead Molecular Response Laboratories in this period of expansion and change. MRL has already secured several exclusive assets, that I will announce in the coming weeks,” said Mirsaidi. “I look forward to building MRL into a leading molecular diagnostic company with focus on building exclusive collaborations and partnerships that can truly make a difference in how patients, like many of our loved ones, are screened, treated, and monitored.”

About Molecular Response
Molecular Response is a leader in advancing targeted therapeutics through intelligently designed, clinically validated companion diagnostics. Our goal is to reduce risk and increase the efficacy of therapeutic drug development for our partners by translating clinically relevant molecular response marker data into high-value knowledge while fully integrated into existing pharmaceutical development processes and programs; Our results reduce risk and improve the success rate of drugs in development and allow for the most informed decisions with best chance of success to advance therapeutic programs.

For additional information, please visit www.molecularresponse.com.

San Diego, CA — November 15, 2010 — Molecular Response (MRL), a privately held molecular diagnostic services company and a leader in the identification of target populations for high value therapeutics, announced today the acquisition of the world’s largest cryo-preserved human cancer tissue bank more than 144,000 specimens procured over 20 years. The company acquired the tumor bank, along with properly de-identified clinical information and validated test procedures, as part of a major acquisition of key assets formerly owned by Oncotech.

“Our acquisition of this incredible tumor bank and associated clinical information provides a unique platform for our collaborators in both pre-clinical and clinical applications,” noted Cyrus K. Mirsaidi, CEO of Molecular Response. “In concert with our biopharma partners we can select what disease targets to avoid for new drug candidates and pick the best new cancer indications for experimental drugs to maximize clinical trial budgets.”

The bank features more than 144,000 discrete cancer samples that are preserved as living single-cell suspensions, stored at -180C, to ensure availability for cell line propagation (cell culture, xenograft and direct human-to-mouse), and downstream ex-vivo treatments. Each of the specimens has been profiled against a panel of drugs, and that information is available to Molecular Response customers in order to select tumor cells of interest based on drug sensitivity/resistance profiles.

The size of the bank allows pharmaceutical companies to screen and select for cancers featuring particular molecular characteristics, and study the effects of their drug on those specific cases. Molecular Response offers a full suite of molecular testing to support those activities.

“The field has long wanted to do large scale ex vivo drug treatment on primary cells, but we’ve been severely limited by tissue availability and have often had to settle for underpowered preclinical studies that look at only a handful of cases or cell lines,” said Dr. Thomas B. Broudy, CSO of Molecular Response. “With the bank we’ve made commercially available, everything changes; our partners will be able to test a drug against hundreds or even thousands of primary cells and that gives us an opportunity to develop clinically sound hypotheses that will help identify new diagnostic and therapeutic targets.”

Additionally, the cryopreserved tumor specimens are accompanied by over 500,000 histology slides used for clinical diagnoses that span 76 separate oncology classifications. As part of the asset acquisition, MRL also secured related test validation protocols used for molecular characterization of the samples.

About Molecular Response
Molecular Response is a leader in advancing targeted therapeutics through intelligently designed, clinically validated companion diagnostics. Our goal is to reduce risk and cost of therapeutic drug development for our partners by translating clinically relevant molecular response marker data into high-value knowledge while fully integrated into existing pharmaceutical development processes and programs; Our results reduce risk and cost of drug development and allow for the most informed decisions with best chance of success to advance therapeutic programs.

For additional information please visit www.molecularresponse.com.

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Contact Information:
Public Relations
858.622.2931
pr@molecularresponse.com