Clarient's AGI Acquisition Nets Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Theranostic Tests

(Aliso Viejo, CA, USA), a technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists, and the pharmaceutical industry, has acquired the privately held company, Applied Genomics, Inc. (AGI; Huntsville, AL, USA) in an all-stock merger valued at up to U.S. $17.6 million. The acquisition provides Clarient with a validated commercial pipeline, geographic expansion, and a development engine for molecular diagnostic tests across numerous cancer types.

The development engine is built on a series of tissue microarrays custom designed from patient cohorts, as well as a set of tools developed by AGI designed to efficiently sub-classify cancers and create information used to improve disease treatment. These tools consist of immunohistochemistry (IHC) markers allowing the identification of patients that fit into specific subcategories; the information can then be correlated to determine the right course of treatment.

AGI's Pulmotype is a five-antibody immunohistochemistry (IHC) test that can be used to aid in the histological distinction between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor specimens.

The histologic classification of non-small-cell lung tumors has gained clinical relevance because newly developed targeted therapies show different clinical effectiveness or toxicity dependent upon the histology of the tumor. The company's Mammostrat is a molecular-targeted IHC test for the risk profiling of ER+ breast cancer patients.

AGI also has a pipeline of cancer diagnostic, prognostic, and theranostic tests at various stages of validation and planned commercialization. The portfolio of tests includes a theranostic that may predict the response of a patient's cancer to taxane therapy across a variety of cancers, including lung, breast, and ovarian.

Commenting on AGI's development engine, Rob Seitz, AGI Chief Executive Officer, said, "Historically, we have been able to develop these products through collaborations with academic institutions. Now, as part of Clarient, we will have the ability to offer our tests and capabilities to community pathologists and their patients across the country. The new combined organization will also continue to assist pharmaceutical companies, which can use our technologies to improve and speed clinical trials. These companies can now identify new and important patient subtypes, while Clarient gains proprietary biomarker content to create generations of new products."

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Clarient, Inc.
Applied Genomics, Inc.