Omico welcomes unique multi-year collaboration with Tessellate BIO and CMRI on ‘ALT+’ cancers
Sydney, Australia 1 October 2024 – National, not for profit genomic pioneer, Omico, welcomes the formal announcement of a unique collaboration with Tessellate BIO and CMRI (Children’s Medical Research Institute) which focusses on advancing the understanding of alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), a mechanism present in cancer cells, and accelerating the development of precision medicines to target it.
Tessellate BIO is a preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on approaches involving novel Synthetic Lethality. CMRI uncovered the ALT cancer mechanism in 1995, and the research into telomere biology and ALT cancers remains a priority focus of the institute led by Prof. Hilda Pickett, the Telomere Length Regulation Unit Head at CMRI.
“Collaboration is at the heart of our mission at Omico in advancing precision oncology,” states Prof David Thomas Omico Chief Science and Strategy Officer. “And this groundbreaking partnership, which combines world-class expertise in genomics, synthetic lethality, and ALT biology is set to accelerate a very important pathway to uncovering innovative precision therapies and new hope to address ALT+ cancers.”
While ALT has been detected in 10 to 15% of all cancers, it has primarily been studied in cancers with ALT prevalence exceeding 50%, including soft tissue sarcomas and osteosarcomas. Cancer cells utilise ALT to maintain integrity of the DNA telomeres during cell division. It is essential to support their unlimited ability to replicate or grow.
Omico has already played a critical role in applying its extensive genomic dataset, collected through the MoST (Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutics) program, to identify subpopulations of patients with different cancer types driven by ALT.
The C-Circle Assay has been central to the identification of these ALT+ cancers – and the multi-year collaboration will aim to establish this Assay as the gold standard diagnostic tool for establishing ALT+ status.
“This collaboration is incredibly exciting and reflects Omico’s commitment to translating cutting-edge science into real-world clinical practice. Our ever-growing genomic data set has already yielded important results revealing the presence of ALT in in a broader range of cancer types than previously thought,” adds Prof Thomas. “Our ultimate goal now is to work together to help expand synthetic lethality for use in ALT+ cancers which we hope will result in the development of new therapies and associated companion diagnostics to improve patients’ lives.”
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Tessellate Bio media release is here:
Tessellate BIO, Omico and CMRI announce a multi-year (globenewswire.com)
For further information contact:
About Omico
Omico (Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre) is a national, not-for-profit organisation enabling a network of research and treatment centers that facilitates, supports, and promotes clinical trials in genomic cancer medicine. The MoST (Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutics) program is a framework protocol for multiple, parallel, signal-seeking clinical studies of novel molecularly targeted therapies for patients with advanced cancer and unmet clinical need, collected by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. The major objective of the MoST program is to deliver precision medicine approaches to cancer patients through comprehensive molecular screening. For more information, visit: www.omico.com.au
About CMRI
CMRI (Children’s Medical Research Institute), is a medical research institute located in Sydney. The ALT cancer mechanism was first discovered at CMRI in 1995, and the research into telomere biology and ALT cancers remains a key focus of the institute to this day. Prof. Hilda Pickett is the Telomere Length Regulation Unit Head at CMRI, an experienced researcher with extensive experience in telomere length regulation. Prof. Pickett is a co-founder of Tessellate Bio. For more information visit: https://www.cmrijeansforgenes.org.au/
About Tessellate BIO
Tessellate BIO discovers and develops novel precision oncology medicines with the mission to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. A private preclinical stage biotechnology company, Tessellate BIO is redefining Synthetic Lethality by developing drugs that target unexplored or difficult to drug pathways beyond HRD.
The company’s strategy is to drive small molecule drug discovery towards novel, validated oncology targets and, critically, the parallel development of associated companion diagnostics, including a potentially best-in-class diagnostic to detect ALT positive cancers for identification of treatment-eligible patients. The company also has follow-on programs in tumor suppressor Loss-of-Function (LoF) settings.
Led by an experienced team of drug hunters, the company is building a pipeline of first-in-class medicines based on cutting-edge research sourced from international world-renowned laboratories and research centers including Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), Australia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM), Portugal, and Omico (Australia). Its lead program targets complexes that are critical for the ALT mechanism including the FANCM protein complex.
Headquartered in the Netherlands and with research labs at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, UK, Tessellate BIO is supported by top-tier life science investors BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Forbion. For more information, please visit: www.tessellatebio.com | follow us on LinkedIn