SEngine Precision Medicine Announces New Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Study at Johns Hopkins University

SEATTLE, Sept. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SEngine Precision Medicine Inc., a Seattle-based precision oncology company revolutionizing cancer therapies by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived 3D cultures, is conducting a Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) study at the esteemed Johns Hopkins University.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death accounting for almost one quarter of annual cancer deaths in the United States (US) and the rest of the world. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be ~236,000 new cases and ~130,000 deaths from lung cancer in the US in 2022.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase, often referred to as ALK, re-arrangements define a distinct molecular subset of NSCLC that pre-dominantly affects younger patients and those with sparse or no smoking exposure. Initial treatment with next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is exceptionally effective for most ALK+ patients¹, but resistance to TKI therapy inevitably develops. Subsequent therapeutic options have relatively limited efficacy and these tumors have consistently shown poor response to current immunotherapies².

This study utilizes SEngine Precision Medicine’s high-throughput patient-derived organoid drug screening technology to identify novel therapeutic targets in progressive ALK+ NSCLC. This technology is currently used by SEngine Precision Medicine in other cancer studies, as well as their signature product, the PARIS^® Test.

“We at SEngine Precision Medicine are dedicated to improving outcomes for cancer patients,” said SEngine CEO Dr. Carla Grandori. “This new study will utilize the power of the PARIS platform to discover new and better drugs for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients. We are honored to be working at the world-renowned Johns-Hopkins University to continue our work in bringing hope to cancer patients.”

About SEngine Precision Medicine

SEngine’s mission is to deliver innovative precise targeted oncology drugs to individual patients by combining functional precision medicine and drug discovery.

SEngine is engineering cancer treatment through a two-pronged strategy, using our PARIS® Test platform to both develop novel therapeutics and identify the most effective existing therapy for individual patients.

As a spin-out from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, SEngine is leveraging decades of R&D experience in drug discovery and diagnostics. 

SEngine’s PARIS® Test platform underpins a unique functional technology approach to drug discovery driving our assets against novel synthetic lethal drug targets. SEngine is leveraging its 3D Tumorganoid platform to discover and develop novel inhibitor molecules that target the “Achilles heel” of cancer cells dependent on the major cancer drivers such as MYC, KRAS, and TP53. These drivers account for a majority of all cancers but have proven highly resistant to various therapeutic approaches. The synthetic lethal strategy overcomes these difficulties.

SEngine’s platform supports drug discovery for our internal pipeline and for strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies to advance novel therapeutics.

The PARIS® Test platform is also revolutionizing the oncology industry by engineering personalized cancer treatments, allowing for the pre-testing of drugs on patient-derived 3D cultures utilizing patient-specific live tumor cells. SEngine’s CLIA³-certified PARIS® Test employs robotics and proprietary computational tools to generate drug sensitivity reports for patients with solid tumors. This personalized approach has been able to match more than 75% of patients with effective treatment options, ranging from common chemotherapies to targeted drugs available through clinical trials. Over 30 different cancer types have been successfully tested on the platform.

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¹ Camidge DR, Dziadziuszko R, Peters S, et al. Updated Efficacy and Safety Data and Impact of the EML4-ALK Fusion Variant on the Efficacy of Alectinib in Untreated ALK-Positive Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in the Global Phase III ALEX Study. J Thorac Oncol 2019;14:1233-43
² Mazieres J, Drilon A, Lusque A, et al. Immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with advanced lung cancer and oncogenic driver alterations: results from the IMMUNOTARGET registry. Ann Oncol 2019
³ Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments

Media contact:
Renee Volpini
[email protected]
917-923-8117