Since the COVID pandemic the PCR test has become generally known as a very accurate test to diagnose whether someone is infected with the Corona virus or not. However, PCR tests can be used for many more purposes than merely the diagnosis of viral infections. Since a PCR test measures the amount of DNA and/or messenger RNA (mRNA) in a sample, it can tell us what kind of RNA is actively ‘read’ in a cell. This may sound complicated, but when thinking of our DNA as a recipe book the concept is simpler to grasp: all the cells in our body have the same DNA (recipe book), but every cell reads different recipes out of that book (mRNA), leading to a wide variety of cells with all different characteristics, for example liver cells, kidney cells and skin cells. The mRNAs, which are measured by the PCR test, are reading certain sections of the book and make copies of those sections to tell the cell what to do. So, by measuring mRNA you can see which parts of the DNA are ‘active’.
Our latest portfolio company InnoSign, a spin-off from Philips, has developed a very smart PCR test to determine whether in cancer cells certain DNA's are actively read (so called ‘signaling pathways’) that make this cancer cell more susceptible to die from a certain drug. In other words, InnoSign’s test will be developed to inform a doctor on forehand whether a certain drug will work in a patient or not. In this way, it can be prevented that a patient is treated and has side effects from a drug that only later shows to be ineffective, which is what currently often happens.
InnoSign was able to develop this test over the past few years, by composing an extensive database of more than 100,000 different cell and tissue samples. By measuring the mRNA in all these samples, they were able to select the mRNAs that are most predictive for the activity of a ‘signaling pathway’. By doing so, the InnoSign test can now indicate the activity of seven signaling pathways by measuring only 96 different mRNA molecules. After taking a tissue sample from a patient, the outcome of the test is known within a day.
Innosign aims to bring personalized and targeted cancer treatment to the patient. Paul van de Wiel is a cell biologist, co-founder and CEO of the startup. He explains how it works:
“Every patient has something different, and it is possible that different signaling pathways have been activated in one patient, but not in another. By gaining insight in those differences between patients, you can use drugs in a more targeted manner. Hormone therapy for breast cancer, for example, is directed against a specific signaling pathway. If that pathway is not active in a certain patient, hormone therapy will have little or no effect, and a doctor can better directly chose for another treatment."
Harrold van Barlingen led this Thuja investment and commented:
“It is known for decades that cancer is caused by mutations in the cell's DNA. Therefore, it was thought that measuring those mutations would be sufficient to determine the tumors aggressiveness and treatment response. Unfortunate this is not always the case and as such doctors need more information. This is the reason why we invest in InnoSign they developed a cleaver diagnostic tool measuring the activity of pathways in a cell delivering additional information enabling the doctor to target treatment in more detail and increasing the changes for the patient.”