Potential new analytical protocol using Parsortix

RNS Number : 0018T

Angle PLC

09 October 2017

 

For immediate release

9 October 2017

ANGLE plc ("the Company")

PARSORTIX^TM SYSTEM CENTRAL TO POTENTIAL NEW ANALYTICAL PROTOCOL FOR IDENTIFYING DRUGS THAT MAY ARREST METASTASIS

Real time technique being developed to assess the impact of cancer drugs on living circulating tumour cells harvested from patient blood using Parsortix^TM

ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL OTCQX:ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company, today announces that Professor Stuart Martin from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA, presented new breakthrough research using ANGLE's Parsortix^TM system at Europe's leading circulating tumour cell (CTC) conference, the Third International Advances in Circulating Tumour Cells (ACTC) Symposium (Rhodes, Greece, 4 to 7 October 2017).  During his plenary session, Professor Martin presented results from a proof of principle study for a real-time analytical protocol to assess drug response on live CTCs harvested from a simple blood test using Parsortix^TM.

Over 90% of deaths from cancer arise from the process of metastasis where the cancer spreads throughout the body via CTCs in the blood causing secondary cancers.  If drugs can be identified for the patient that disable their CTCs then the metastatic spread of the disease might be arrested or reduced.

Using the Parsortix^TM system, Prof. Martin's laboratory isolated CTCs from the blood of breast cancer patients and mice transplanted with human breast tumour cells. The recovered CTCs could then be held in place within the Parsortix^TM cassette using a microfluidic cell tethering technology, developed by Cellth Systems, Inc., and imaged in real-time using high powered confocal microscopy so as to observe the appearance of the cells and in particular the "micro-tentacle" structures on the surface of CTCs. These have been shown to be important to metastasis by allowing CTCs to take root in a distant organ to establish a secondary tumour. The entire harvesting and imaging technique could be completed within six hours of patient blood draw.

Prof. Martin's team then proceeded to examine the effect of changes to these micro-tentacles on individual CTCs as solutions of different drugs were passed over them. The response varied by patient for each drug, with (i) no impact  (ii) withering and damage to micro-tentacles, or (iii) surprisingly in some cases, growth and potential strengthening of micro-tentacles being observed.

This proof of principle study suggests that a protocol based on the examination, in real-time, within the Parsortix^TM cassette, of the effect of different drugs on CTC micro-tentacles isolated from individual patients has potential as a personalised medicine approach to cancer care. In principle, such an approach could allow identification of which drugs may help to arrest metastasis in a particular patient and which drugs will have no impact, or could actually have a negative impact.  Dr Martin's laboratory now intend to further develop and refine this protocol for both this application and to explore its use as a drug development tool to identify new drugs, or already approved drugs, that appear to impact the process of metastasis.

ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, commented:

"This is an unexpected new use of the Parsortix^TM system, which could allow major progress in identifying effective drugs for an individual patient's cancer that may arrest or limit metastasis, a process that is ultimately responsible for over 90% of cancer deaths.  Our vision is that a liquid biopsy using Parsortix^TM to harvest circulating tumour cells from a simple blood test will one day be routinely used to support personalised medicine for all cancer patients."

Dr Stuart Martin, Professor, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA commented:

"The unique ability of Parsortix^TM to rapidly capture live CTCs and CTC clusters from patient blood samples preserving their metastatic CTC behaviours gives us a platform for testing new drugs that could reduce cancer metastasis in patients.  Recovering living CTCs for immediate imaging within the Parsortix^TM cassette really advances our goals of testing drug responses in patient CTCs, while allowing us to avoid the problems with growing CTCs in the laboratory."

For further information ANGLE:

ANGLE plc	[phone]
Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director
finnCap Ltd (NOMAD and Joint Broker) Corporate Finance - Adrian Hargrave, Simon Hicks, Kate Bannatyne Corporate Broking - Alice Lane, Nikita Jain	[phone]
WG Partners (Joint Broker) Nigel Barnes Nigel Birks	[phone] [phone]
FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Mo Noonan, Stephanie Cuthbert Kimberly Ha (US)	[phone] [phone]

For Frequently Used Terms, please see the Company's website on http://www.angleplc.com/the-parsortix-system/glossary/

This announcement contains inside information.

Notes for editors

About ANGLE plc     www.angleplc.com 

ANGLE is a world-leading liquid biopsy company commercialising a disruptive platform technology that can capture cells circulating in blood, such as cancer cells, even when they are as rare in number as one cell in one billion blood cells, and harvest the cells for analysis.

ANGLE's cell separation technology is called the Parsortix^TM system and it enables a liquid biopsy (simple blood test) to be used to provide the cells of interest. Parsortix^TM is the subject of granted patents in Europe, the United States, Canada, India, China, Japan and Australia and three extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide. The system is based on a microfluidic device that captures live cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility. Parsortix^TM has a CE Mark for Europe and FDA authorisation is in process for the United States. 

ANGLE has established formal collaborations with world-class cancer centres.  These Key Opinion Leaders are working to identify applications with medical utility (clear benefit to patients), and to secure clinical data that demonstrates that utility in patient studies.  Details are available here http://www.angleplc.com/the-company/collaborators/ 

The analysis of the cells that can be harvested from patient blood with ANGLE's Parsortix^TM system has the potential to help deliver personalised cancer care offering profound improvements in clinical and health economic outcomes in the treatment and diagnosis of various forms of cancer.

The global increase in cancer to a 1 in 3 lifetime incidence is set to drive a multi-billion dollar clinical market. The Parsortix^TM system is designed to be compatible with existing major medtech analytical platforms and to act as a companion diagnostic for major pharma in helping to identify patients that will benefit from a particular drug and then monitoring the drug's effectiveness.

As well as cancer, the Parsortix^TM technology has the potential for deployment with several other important cell types in the future.

ANGLE stock trades on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AGL and in New York on the OTC-QX under the ticker symbol ANPCY. For further information please visit: www.angleplc.com

 

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