CULVER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NantHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ-GS: NH), a next-generation, evidence-based, personalized healthcare company, today announced its support for a research study initiated by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) that will use NantHealth’s GPS Cancer™ panomic molecular analysis test to explore the molecular basis of patients with metastatic or recurrent breast cancer. The study will be led by co - principal investigators Hope S. Rugo, MD, and Denise M. Wolf, PhD, from UCSF.
This year, approximately 40,000 women will die from breast cancer in the United States1. Despite improvements in early detection, breast cancer remains a major cause of cancer-related mortalities. NantHealth and UCSF will collaborate to collect tissue specimens and clinical data from patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. The main goal of this project is to implement a comprehensive molecular profiling pilot study, directed towards women with metastatic breast cancer, that (1) creates a work flow to establish the feasibility of real time comprehensive profiling to support clinical decision making, (2) benefits participating patients by evaluating ‘actionable’ biomarkers and returning results, and (3) records whether the results were considered useful and impacted care.
“It is an exciting time for us as we embark on this partnership with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and NantHealth to further investigate metastatic breast cancer,” said Dr. Hope S. Rugo, clinical professor of the Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) and director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at UCSF and principal investigator of this study. “We understand that every patient responds to treatment differently, making it imperative for us to develop effective, personalized treatment options to fight stage IV breast cancer. My team and I are looking forward to this study and are confident that we will have a better understanding of how molecular profiling plays into physicians’ treatment decisions.”
This study will allow UCSF researchers to utilize advancements made in molecular technology to examine the potential clinical feasibility of molecular profiling, including gene mutations, gene and protein expression in the context of patient care. The biopsy materials collected will also allow researchers to examine immune markers within the tumor architecture. Through this partnership, UCSF will increase its access to exceptional molecular profiling, combined with exploratory markers.
“UCSF’s health science research is recognized worldwide for pushing scientific boundaries and they have been known for their thoughtful and strategic collaborations that aim to advance the way diseases are treated,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, Chairman and CEO of NantHealth. “As we look to better understand the underlying cause of stage IV breast cancer, I am certain that Drs. Rugo and Wolf and their team of investigators have the knowledge, resources and expertise to be successful in exploring the relationship of immune profiling with tumor characteristics and molecular profiling in patients diagnosed with this form of breast cancer.”
University of California, San Francisco Disclaimer
The
information stated above was prepared by NantHealth, Inc. and reflects
solely the opinion of the corporation. Nothing in this statement shall
be construed to imply any support or endorsement of NantHealth, or any
of its products, by The Regents of the University of California, its
officers, agents and employees.
About University of California, San Francisco
UC San
Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health
worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education
in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient
care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine,
nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned
programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences;
and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF
Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF
Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San
Francisco and Oakland,
and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers
throughout the Bay Area.
About GPS Cancer™
GPS Cancer™ is a unique, molecular scan
available through NantHealth. GPS Cancer integrates whole genome (DNA)
sequencing, whole transcriptome (RNA) sequencing, and quantitative
proteomics through mass spectrometry, providing oncologists with a
comprehensive molecular profile of a patient's cancer and an assessment
of protein pathway function to inform personalized treatment strategies.
GPS Cancer scanning is conducted in CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited
laboratories, and is a key enabler for Cancer
Breakthroughs 2020, the world's most comprehensive cancer
collaborative initiative seeking to accelerate the potential of
combination immunotherapy as the next generation standard of care in
cancer patients. For more information, visit www.gpscancer.com.
Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This
press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among
others, statements regarding the capabilities and anticipated utility of
our GPS Cancer, including predicting patient response and resistance to
therapeutics, enabling diagnoses by physicians and accelerating efforts
to bring novel combinations of therapeutic agents to cancer patients.
Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
currently anticipated results. Factors that may cause future results to
differ materially from management’s current expectations include, among
other things, that GPS Cancer may not perform as anticipated, that
sufficient physicians may not adopt GPS Cancer to assist their diagnoses
or that healthcare payers may not provide reimbursement for GPS Cancer
as expected. Our business is subject to numerous additional risks and
uncertainties, including, among others, risks relating to market
acceptance of our products; our ability to successfully launch new
products and applications; competition; our sales, marketing and
distribution capabilities; our planned sales, marketing, and research
and development activities; unanticipated increases in costs or
expenses; and risks associated with international operations.
Information on these and additional risks, uncertainties, and other
information affecting our business and operating results can be found in
our existing and future filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking
statements except as may be required by law.
About NantHealth, Inc.
NantHealth, Inc., a member of the
NantWorks ecosystem of companies, is a next-generation, evidence-based,
personalized healthcare company enabling improved patient outcomes and
more effective treatment decisions for critical illnesses. NantHealth's
unique systems-based approach to personalized healthcare applies novel
diagnostics tailored to the specific molecular profiles of patient
tissues and integrates this molecular data in a clinical setting with
large-scale, real-time biometric signal and phenotypic data to track
patient outcomes and deliver precision medicine. For nearly a decade,
NantHealth has developed an adaptive learning system, which includes its
unique software, middleware and hardware systems infrastructure that
collects, indexes, analyzes and interprets billions of molecular,
clinical, operational and financial data points derived from novel and
traditional sources, continuously improves decision-making and further
optimizes our clinical pathways and decision algorithms over time. For
more information please visit www.nanthealth.com and
follow Dr. Soon-Shiong on Twitter @DrPatSoonShiong.
1 http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics
