NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Sanofi and the Curie Institute today announced a three-year collaboration aimed at using next-generation sequencing technologies to identify new therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer.
The program will use technology platforms developed by researchers at the Curie Institute to sequence molecules expressed by the tumor genome and compare them with non-tumor tissues from the same patients. Molecular alterations that are identified will then be clarified and validated. Sanofi will apply its expertise in selecting therapeutic targets to assess the tumor's ability to be inhibited or stimulated by drugs, the partners said.
In an e-mail to GenomeWeb Daily News, Damien Salauze, director of the Institute Carnot Curie-Cancer said in addition to next-generation sequencing, technology platforms that will be used in the project include reverse-phase protein analysis and patient-derived xenografts.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The aim of the collaboration, Sanofi and the Curie Institute said, is to "revisit the basic biology of [ovarian cancer] through a translational research approach … to gain a better understanding of the molecular alterations that characterize many types of ovarian cancer, thereby enabling effective new drugs to be designed."
The collaboration is being carried out through Curie Institute's Curie-Cancer partnership under the Institut Carnot label, a mechanism for developing research partnerships between French public laboratories and businesses. Curie-Cancer is responsible for developing the Curie Institute's industry partnership activities.