Clarient estimates it would take about a year of further development to thoroughly evaluate the predictive value of measuring an amount of MUC1 in a patient's sample. Currently, there is no MUC1-targeting drug available, but in the long term, the test could identify patients who would benefit from a MUC1-disabling drug. The two companies expect to collaborate on critical studies to validate the clinical utility of the marker as well as supporting papers and scientific presentations at major oncology symposia.

"We continue to make definitive progress on what biomarkers are implicated in which cancers, so we need to be proactive in evaluating new markers, such as those implicating MUC1," Andrews added. "We spent the first five years building a commercial channel that could deliver complex cancer testing information into every community in the US, and building out a base menu of services to support the community pathologists. Now we are leveraging our channel to strengthen our menu of proprietary tests for the key cancers we serve. If MUC1 turns out to be as valuable as some believe, especially for women who have developed a resistance to certain targeted therapies, it would be a significant product in our arsenal."

SOURCE Clarient, Inc.; Minerva Biotechnologies