NEW YORK – Akoya Biosciences said Wednesday it is collaborating with the Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC) on a study aimed at identifying markers predictive of response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
The collaboration will use Akoya's PhenoCode Discovery IO60 Panel within the STCC Unified PD1/PDL1 Evaluation of Response (SUPER) study to look at immunophenotype matched pairs of immuno-oncology exceptional responders and hyper-progressors.
Financial and other terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
The SUPER study cohort is a pan-cancer cohort consisting of 100 exceptional responders to checkpoint inhibitors and 100 individuals who hyper-progressed on checkpoint inhibitors. The study will combine spatial proteomic data generated using the IO60 Panel with other multiomic data to identify and validate biomarkers predictive of response of refractoriness to checkpoint inhibitor treatment.
The researchers aim to develop an assay kit for predicting PD1/PDL1 treatment response for clinical applications.
"The SUPER study design is a unique approach to redefining immunotherapy strategies," Anand Jeyasekharan, platform lead for translational research integration and support at STCC, said in a statement. "We aim to develop a precision medicine approach for cancer immunotherapy by integrating spatial approaches with DNA/RNA sequencing to identify predictors of response to these expensive medications."
“We are excited to collaborate with STCC to drive advances in personalized medicine. Our IO60 panel offers critical insights into the tumor microenvironment, paving the way for more effective cancer treatment," Akoya CEO Brian McKelligon said in a statement.