LARIAT BIOSCIENCES, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: 102

Description

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Circulating cell free DNA in the bloodstream holds the promise of non invasive andquot liquid biopsiesandquot for cancer diagnostics Mutations that drive the growth and spread of tumors are present and detectable within this genetic pool despite being outnumbered by vast amounts of wild type DNA However there are no single genetic biomarkers of cancer and so to be of practical use many possible mutations must be screened simultaneously Current techniques lose the high sensitivity required for this needle in a haystack search once multiple mutations are targeted Lariat Biosciences is developing new technologies that break this trade off between sensitivity and breadth providing for the first tim the complete tools necessary to mine the bloodstream for clinically actionable signs of cancer The Lariat technology pairs the exquisite sensitivity of emulsion digital PCR capable of mutant quantitation at mutant to wild type ratios of to with the ability to isolate and deepl characterize the detected mutant DNA afterwards With orthogonal methods of DNA identification the false positives that undermine the multiplexed sensitivity of current technique are eliminated Lariatandapos s initial product offering will be a comprehensive genetic screen for the common mutations in EGFR and KRAS a nine plex assay that will be useful for predicting patient response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs and for monitoring emerging resistance to therapy PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Circulating cell free DNA in the bloodstream holds the promise of noninvasive andquot liquid biopsiesandquot for cancer diagnostics Mutations that drive the growth and spread of tumors are present and detectable within this genetic pool despite being outnumbered by vast amounts of healthy wild type DNA Lariat Biosciences is developing new technologies that provide for the first time the complete tools necessary to mine the bloodstream for clinically actionable signs of cancer