Precision cancer therapy developer Perthera is partnering with ZERO, the prostate cancer research advocacy and patient support group, to launch a pilot nationwide molecular profiling program designed to identify treatment options for men with the disease.
Through their Decode Your Prostate Cancer program, ZERO and Perthera said they will enable patients with metastatic prostate cancer to access their molecular profiles for free. Participants will contribute anonymous data to the program’s database, as well as receive personalized plans of care based on the mutations driving their cancers.
“In joining forces with Zero, together we will bring a significant and effective new tool for doctors, hospitals and patients across the US to fight prostate cancer,” Perthera President and CEO Neal G. Koller said in a statement.
Participants will receive The Perthera Report™, intended to provide them with therapeutic treatment options precisely matched to their individual cancer. Launched on February 10, the Report is a three-page document created explain to patients in jargon-free English how their molecular analysis could lead to conclusions about available clinical trials, or to the use of off-label medications, or to a standard treatment approach.
“One of the most significant recent breakthroughs in the fight against cancer is pinpointing the patient's tumor characteristics. The Perthera Report accomplishes this and more by providing ranked therapeutic options that have been reviewed by Perthera's experts and scientific tumor board,” added ZERO's President and CEO Jamie Bearse. “With this critical data; we're able to put men battling prostate cancer on the best individualized treatment pathways; getting them back to life with their families.”
Would-be participants in Decode Your Prostate Cancer are required to complete an online release waiver online, after which a Perthera patient coordinator will contact them and their physicians to obtain consent for a tissue biopsy. The coordinator, in consultation with the patient’s clinicians, will develop a molecular profile that will be matched to data on treatments and clinical trials.
Participants’ case results will be reviewed by a group of oncologists as part of Perthera's Medical Review Panel. Following the review, participants will receive their personalized report ranking available treatments and clinical trials that the panel determined would work best for them.
Perthera offers a Precision Cancer Analysis based on its proprietary ExpO platform, designed to give doctors easy access to data on FDA-approved therapies and clinical trials, as well as up-to-date information about precision cancer medicines.
Providing access to ExpO are two applications: PrecisiOn OnBoard, a platform for asynchronous communication among the clinical team through an HIPAA compliant web portal; and PrecisiOn OnPoint, a proprietary, subscription-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution intended to give physicians a quick and easy way to centralize and manage multiple Perthera precision medicine cases in a secure online portal.
Founded in 2012, Perthera last year raised $8.7 million in financing, consisting of $1.2 million from individual investors and $7.5 million from Pilot Growth Equity. Perthera said the proceeds were used to continue developing its management and medical teams, with the goal of becoming a leader in the global precision medicine market.