Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Foundation Medicine, Relay Therapeutics to Develop FoundationOne CDx for FGFR2 Inhibitor

NEW YORK – Roche's Foundation Medicine announced on Monday that it will collaborate with Relay Therapeutics to develop FoundationOne CDx as a companion diagnostic for Relay's RLY-4008, an investigational FGFR2 inhibitor.

The drug is currently being evaluated for use in patients with FGFR2-mutated cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, and other solid tumors, the companies said in a statement. If the therapy and FoundationOne CDx as a companion diagnostic are approved, the test would be used to identify patients with FGFR2 fusions and select rearrangements in cholangiocarcinoma who may be appropriate for treatment with the drug.

FGFR2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is often altered in certain cancers, and RLY-4008 is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial in patients with advanced or metastatic FGFR2-altered solid tumors, the companies said.

"FGFR2-mutated cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive condition that's generally diagnosed in advanced stages when prognosis is poor and treatment options are limited," Don Bergstrom, president of R&D at Relay Therapeutics, said in a statement. "We're proud to partner with the leader in companion diagnostic approvals as we work to advance this potentially life-changing therapy and create access to it once approved."

Next-generation sequencing-based FoundationOne CDx is used as a companion diagnostic for a variety of drugs and detects substitutions, insertion and deletion alterations, and copy number alterations in 324 genes and select gene rearrangements, along with genomic signatures such as microsatellite instability and tumor mutational burden using DNA isolated from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue specimens.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.