Erianne Leatherman | Apr 5, 2017

BMS, Foundation Medicine partner on predictive biomarker project

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is joining Foundation Medicine to use the company’s extensive genomic profiling and molecular information solutions to identify predictive biomarkers in patients in clinical trials that are analyzing Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer immunotherapies, Bristol-Myers Squibb said in a press release.

Used to identify a tumor and its microenvironment, biomarkers like Microsatellite Instability and Tumor Mutational Burden can uncover immune-related mechanisms that can show how a cancer patient responds to immunotherapy, Bristol-Meyers Squibb said. 

“Translational medicine research is critical to further our understanding of cancer biology and to identify which patient populations are most likely to derive benefit from our immuno-oncology agents,” Dr. Fouad Namouni, head of Development, Oncology, at Bristol-Myers Squibb said in the release. “We believe this collaboration with Foundation Medicine will help us better understand the relation of genomic approaches to immunotherapy efficacy across a number of different tumor types and immunotherapy agents.”

Cancer immunotherapy supports the immune system by boosting it with an anti-cancer response, which relies partly on the identification of neoantigens, or cancer-specific proteins, Bristol-Myers Squibb said. 

“Cancer immuno-therapy is evolving rapidly, and biopharmaceutical companies and practicing oncologists alike may benefit from a reliable, validated, comprehensive view of mutational burden and genomic alterations to make the most informed care decisions,” Melanie Nallicheri, chief business officer and head of biopharma for Foundation Medicine, said in the release. “Our collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb highlights the potential value of our molecular information platform to the biopharma industry for its ability to inform, to reduce risk and to accelerate clinical development in this high growth and highly competitive oncology field."

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