PRECOS to Showcase Preclinical Oncology Service Portfolio at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013

Preclinical Oncology Services Limited (PRECOS), a leading pre-clinical research and development service provider with a specific focus on oncology, will be attending the AACR (American Association of Cancer Research) Annual Meeting, taking place April 6th – 10th 2013, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre in Washington DC.

At the show PRECOS will be unveiling its new PUMA platform for preclinical oncology research, in addition to running four poster presentations covering a range of preclinical research studies. This year’s meeting has the theme of “Personalized Cancer Care Through Discovery Science” and will bring the finest minds in cancer research to the American capital. Senior scientific staff from PRECOS will be available to discuss the company’s expanding portfolio of cancer models in relation to scientists’ specific oncology drug discovery and biomarker study requirements.

PRECOS leads the way in providing robust models, validated against today’s Standard of Care agents to enable pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo testing of the next generation of oncology drug candidates. PRECOS will be launching a new cutting-edge service and portfolio of models at the North American show which may help in the development of drugs used to prevent or overcome resistance to treatment in cancer patients. The company provides expertise, specialism and innovation to small to medium biotechnology companies and the new platforms will support new and existing projects going forward.

The following posters will be presented

• In vivo generation of EGFR-TKI resistance in a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) with an activating EGFR mutation (L858R), and molecular characterisation of the resistance mechanisms

At the show PRECOS will highlight how using a novel patient-derived NSCLC xenograft model, driven by the L858R EGFR mutation, PRECOS set out to recapitulate the reported clinical routes of resistance to EGFR inhibitors and to evaluate if additional mechanism could also be identified.

• In vivo response and molecular characterisation of a NSCLC squamous cell carcinoma PDX model exhibiting reproducible sensitivity to EGFR inhibitors

PRECOS will address LION137 which is a novel patient-derived NSCLC SCC xenograft model with reproducible FGFRi-sensitivity which is directly relevant to the clinical setting. This model could be invaluable in assessing novel agents targeting the FGFR pathway and in the development of new combination strategies which may prevent or overcome resistance.

• Patient-derived xenograft models reveal a subset of clinically relevant squamous non-small cell lung cancers that respond to targeted EGFR inhibition

PRECOS will shed light on the proposition that a significant subset of NSCLC patients with squamous histology may benefit from treatment with targeted EGFR inhibitors. It claims that its LION SCC models could be valuable for biomarker studies to identify the basis of the EGFR inhibitor responder subset and for evaluating new agents in a more clinically relevant setting.

• In vivo oncology target screening using a lentiviral inducible- shRNA knockdown system
PRECOS will provide an insight on how to optimise a lentiviral inducible-knockdown small hairpin RNA (shRNA) system for efficient in vivo cancer target validation, using polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), an essential cell-cycle protein, as a proof-of-concept target.

Dr Neil Rotherham, chairman of the PRECOS board comments, “We are committed to developing novel panels of models, including resistance models to support drug discovery and the development of the next generation of therapeutic agents to treat resistance. AACR is a great platform to showcase our expanding portfolio of solutions designed to meet oncology research and development needs.”

The AACR Annual Meeting 2013 examines the latest and most exciting discoveries in every area of cancer research and provides a unique opportunity for investigators from all over the world to meet and forge collaborations. Speakers at the event provide case studies of emerging targets in order to address some of the issues surrounding target-based drug discovery and development. PRECOS’ full service offering will be highlighted at AACR 2013, including its in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo services that are matched by advanced model development and imaging services to enable PRECOS to provide a uniquely comprehensive and custom service to its clients, from concept to final result.