Panacea to Develop Cancer Diagnostics for SRL

A license and service agreement to develop and commercialize cancer diagnostics that target the enzyme human aspartyl Beta-hydroxylase (HAAH) has been announced by Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD, USA).

The nonexclusive license will allow SRL, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) to commercialize HAAH-based tests using immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunocytochemistry (ICC), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). SRL is the largest reference laboratory services organization in Japan. Panacea has received up-front payment, will receive milestone payments for the development and Japanese regulatory approval of a HAAH serum immunoassay, and will receive a royalty payment on all sales.

"The HAAH-based cancer serum test is expected to become a single universal diagnostic test to detect early-stage tumor presence regardless of tumor-bearing organs,” said Dr. Kazumasa Hikiji, chief technology officer of SRL. "By subsequent diagnostic tests utilizing HAAH and other organ-specific tumor markers as well as imaging procedures, medical doctors may be able to diagnose cancers in their curable stage.”




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