Applied DNA Sciences announced that LineaRx, the Company’s majority-owned subsidiary focused on next-generation biotherapeutics and diagnostics, has signed a definitive agreement with Tyme Technologies, to supply the Company’s Vita-Assay™ invasive Circulating Tumor Cell (iCTC) capture assay and associated services for use in the pivotal stage of the TYME-88-PANC clinical trial for patients with third-line pancreatic cancer (the “Agreement”).
Under the terms of the Agreement, TYME has the option to purchase from the Company up to 3,000 Vita-Assay kits and associated iCTC analytical and storage services over the course of treatment of up to 250 patients. The potential value of the Agreement is the largest contract to-date for LineaRx, and the largest in the development history of the iCTC assay.
The Company and TYME have previously announced a study demonstrating correlation between the number of iCTCs in a patient’s blood and their disease status, as observed in TYME’s SM-88 Phase II trial for recurrent prostate cancer. The study demonstrated that SM-88 had very encouraging efficacy and safety outcomes for prostate cancer patients where sparing testosterone was important. The study also showed that reduction of CTCs, an important prognostic indicator, may prove to be a better surrogate for patient outcomes than PSA, particularly for SM-88 and other non-hormonal agents.
