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TcLand Expression Receives $1.7M to Validate Companion Dx for Rheumatoid Arthritis

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – French gene expression-based diagnostics developer TcLand Expression today announced it has received €1.2 million ($1.7 million) to perform a validation study of a test for rheumatoid arthritis.

The funding from Oseo and the European Regional Development Fund will be used primarily to set up a European multi-center clinical trial for the validation of a molecular test to predict non-response to anti-TNF treatment, in particular Remicade (infliximab).

According to TcLand Expression, studies have shown that as much as 30 percent of RA patients do not respond or respond inadequately to TNF inhibitors. "The test could therefore become a cornerstone to prevent therapeutic failure and allows clinicians to immediately select an alternative treatment for their patients," the company said in a statement.

Last year, TcLand Expression licensed two patents from Inserm Transfert — a private-sector technology transfer subsidiary of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research — for the development of RA companion diagnostics. It is unclear whether the test referred to in today's announcement is based on those technologies.

TcLand Expression, based in Nantes, France, is a spinout of Inserm.