Cytogen Receives 'Love Calls' for CTC-Based Liquid Biopsy Technology at ASCO... 'Expecting Partnering Success'

Cytogen announced on the 7th that it revealed research achievements on CTC (circulating tumor cell)-based liquid biopsy technology at the ‘2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’ and held partnering meetings with multinational companies.

Marking its 60th anniversary this year, ASCO is one of the top three most prestigious cancer conferences worldwide. Every year, about 40,000 participants from global big pharma to promising biotech companies attend to discuss advancements in cancer treatment research. In particular, many licensing deals are concluded based on research results presented at ASCO, making it an opportunity platform for domestic bio companies.

At this year’s ASCO, Cytogen presented the latest research results on △development of a new diagnostic method for multiple myeloma through blood △simultaneous detection of tumor-derived mutations in DNA and RNA from ddPCR-based CTC. Based on these research achievements, the company held partnering meetings with representatives from about 100 global pharmaceutical and biotech companies and hospitals, including Novartis, AbbVie, Daiichi Sankyo, and Eisai.

The company plans to continue discussions on various business models such as technology transfer and joint development partnerships through additional meetings following this partnering event.

Cytogen’s newly developed ‘diagnostic method for multiple myeloma through blood’ isolates and analyzes circulating plasma cells (CPC) in the patient’s blood using an automated system, thereby eliminating patient burden and enhancing diagnostic convenience. Cytogen’s liquid biopsy platform is characterized by high recovery rates (over 80%) and high sensitivity capable of detecting even very small amounts of CPC in the blood through immunofluorescence staining using CPC markers.

The ‘simultaneous detection method of tumor-derived mutations in DNA and RNA from ddPCR-based CTC’ is a multimodal analysis method applying ddPCR, which has high sensitivity and specificity overcoming the limitations of tissue biopsy, to Cytogen’s Smart Biopsy platform. This method enables simultaneous extraction and detection of the DNA mutation KRAS and the RNA splicing variant AR-V7 from CTCs. Through the newly developed multimodal analysis method, Cytogen can reduce sample costs and rapidly produce accurate results.

Based on the clinical results of multiple myeloma, Cytogen plans to pursue expanded clinical trials for commercialization, including publishing papers and filing patents. The company is also considering applying the ddPCR technique to cancer drug development and participating in clinical monitoring through collaboration with global companies.

A company representative stated, “Cytogen is the only company with technology capable of isolating living multiple myeloma cells in the blood,” adding, “This technology is expected to yield meaningful results not only for accurate diagnosis through marker analysis of living cells but also for discovering new therapeutic targets for multiple myeloma.”

He continued, “As the global cancer treatment paradigm advances toward ‘personalized and customized’ approaches, liquid biopsy technology is gaining more attention,” and added, “We plan to strengthen our global market entry based on Cytogen’s liquid biopsy technology and the unique competitiveness of its platform.”