NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Exiqon today announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Aarhus University Hospital to license prostate cancer biomarkers discovered and validated by the hospital.
The biomarkers include gene-specific methylation patterns that are associated with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. The epigenetic biomarkers have been validated in two independent cohorts, consisting of over 400 patients with a follow-up period of 10 years.
"We rarely come across biomarkers with such a promising potential as we have seen for these prostate cancer biomarkers," Torben Ømtoft, a professor at Aarhus University Hospital, said in a statement.
Exiqon CEO Lars Kongsbak said the deal helps accelerate the Copenhagen-based firm's prostate cancer diagnostic program because it would have taken years for the firm to assess the prognostic value of biomarkers on its own.
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.