Clinical Trial Powered by Parsortix System Provides First-in-Class Data for Novel Approach to Cancer Treatment
January 24, 2025 – Biotechnology, Clinical Trials, Drug Discovery, Pharmaceutical – ANGLE plc, circulating tumour cell, clinical trials, liquid biopsy, metastatic breast cancer, oncology
- Parsortix system used to identify patients with highly metastatic CTC clusters for targeted treatment
- New treatment strategy provides ‘uncharted opportunity’ to target metastasis responsible for the vast majority of cancer deaths.
24 February 2025 — Guilford, UK — ANGLE plc, a world-leading liquid biopsy company with innovative circulating tumour cell (CTC) solutions for use in research, drug development and clinical oncology, is delighted to announce the publication of breakthrough research from Professor Nicola Aceto’s team at the research university ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in the journal Nature Medicine.
The publication reports on an interventional multi-centre Phase 1 clinical trial using the repurposed, FDA approved drug, digoxin, to treat metastatic breast cancer patients. The Parsortix system played a critical role in selecting patients for this targeted treatment by identifying those who were positive for CTC clusters (two or more tumour cells travelling together in the bloodstream). This enabled researchers to enrol only patients who might benefit from digoxin treatment, which has been shown to dissociate highly metastatic CTC clusters in preclinical studies.
The primary endpoint for the trial was successfully achieved with a significant reduction in CTC cluster size reported in the treatment group. This proof-of-principle study paves the way for the development of a novel class of drugs that prevent or suppress the development of metastasis. The Parsortix system is already well established in the Aceto Lab and Professor Aceto has co-founded the company PAGE Therapeutics (pagetherapeutics.com) to develop novel compounds which are highly effective at disassociating CTC clusters. It is anticipated that the Parsortix system will play a crucial role in the pre-clinical and clinical development of these compounds, including dose finding and selection of the most appropriate patients for clinical trials.
Professor Nicola Aceto, Aceto Lab, ETH Zurich, commented:
“Given that the spread of cancer accounts for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths, the effective prevention and suppression of metastasis is an elusive goal for clinicians worldwide. Standard-of-care treatments are typically developed based on their cytotoxic activity and are not necessarily designed to interfere with metastasis-relevant mechanisms. Consequently, there is an uncharted opportunity for the development of targeted agents that disrupt the causes of metastasis themselves.
While clinical outcomes were not assessed in this proof-of-concept study, the trial provides first-in-class evidence that supports the development of novel treatments targeting the metastatic process.”
ANGLE’s Chief Scientific Officer, Karen Miller, commented:
“We are delighted to report on this first-in-class treatment approach reported by the Aceto Lab which has the potential to significantly reduce the burden of metastatic disease and improve patient outcomes. Given its unique design and ability to capture CTC clusters, we anticipate that the Parsortix system will be a crucial component for the development of drugs targeting the metastatic cascade by facilitating the selection of patients who are most likely to respond to treatment and allow continuous monitoring to determine the pharmacodynamic effects of the drugs. Alongside our ongoing collaboration with ETH Zurich, we look forward to working with PAGE Therapeutics to support their development drugs targeting metastatic spread.”
The peer-reviewed publication is published in the journal Nature Medicine and available for review at https://angleplc.com/resources/publications/
About ANGLE plc
ANGLE is a world-leading liquid biopsy company with innovative circulating tumour cell (CTC) solutions for use in research, drug development and clinical oncology using a simple blood sample. ANGLE’s FDA cleared and patent protected CTC harvesting technology known as the Parsortix® PC1 System enables complete downstream analysis of the sample including whole cell imaging and proteomic analysis and full genomic and transcriptomic molecular analysis. ANGLE’s commercial businesses are focusing on clinical services and diagnostic products. The clinical services business is offered through ANGLE’s GCLP-compliant laboratories. Services include custom made assay development and clinical trial testing for pharma. Products include the Parsortix system, associated consumables and assays. Over 100 peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated the performance of the Parsortix system. For more information, visit www.angleplc.com
