Biodesix last week presented results from a combined analysis of two Phase II trials using its Veristrat lung cancer companion diagnostic.
The results, which were shared at the Third European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, demonstrated that Veristrat was able to identify non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer patients likely to have better and worse survival outcomes when given combination therapy of bevacizumab – marketed by Roche as Avastin – and erlotinib – marketed by Roche as Tarceva.
In the retrospective study, pretreatment serum samples from 114 patients given this combination therapy were classified as either Veristrat Good or Poor. Patients classified as Good had a median overall survival of 13.4 months, while patients classified Poor had median survival of 6.2 months.
The test did not return statistically significant differences in median progression-free survival between Good and Poor patients.
"Although additional data is need, this study supports the view that Veristrat may be useful in identifying lung cancer patients that could benefit from the combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib," Biodesix CEO David Brunel said in a statement.
The company is currently involved in prospective trials for the test, including a Phase III trial in advanced squamous cell lung cancer sponsored by the European Thoracic Oncology Platform.