STAMFORD, Conn., March 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Loxo Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOXO), a biopharmaceutical company innovating the development of highly selective medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers, today announced that the Company has entered into a collaboration agreement with Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group (Roche), to develop and commercialize a pan-TRK immunohistochemistry (IHC) test as a companion diagnostic to identify patients across tumor types suitable for treatment with larotrectinib.

"We are excited to partner with Roche, the global leader in developing and commercializing IHC assays for cancer diagnostics. Our initial technology assessment suggests that an IHC pan-TRK assay is feasible, which is exciting since Roche has thousands of VENTANA BenchMark instruments installed worldwide," said Josh Bilenker, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Loxo Oncology. "IHC remains a mainstay of the cancer pathology workup, due in part to its speed, limited tissue requirements, low cost, and established reimbursement paradigms. Diagnostics are a crucial part of our commercial strategy, and we believe IHC will be an important tool, alongside next-generation sequencing, that pathologists can employ in screening for patients who may benefit from larotrectinib."

Loxo Oncology and Roche will utilize an investigational assay piloted by Loxo Oncology that will be further developed by Roche using its flagship OptiView DAB detection technology. Initially, the parties will optimize and validate the assay to ensure it is sufficiently robust to withstand clinical and regulatory scrutiny. The parties plan to first globally commercialize an analytical assay and then develop a Class III assay for pre-market approval (PMA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA approval will be based on analyses of patient samples collected from ongoing larotrectinib clinical trials to support clinical claims referencing larotrectinib. Roche is responsible for developing, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals for the companion diagnostic test in the United States, specified countries in the European Union and other countries that recognize the CE/ in vitro diagnostic registration process, as mutually agreed.

About Larotrectinib (LOXO-101)
Larotrectinib (LOXO-101) is a potent, oral and selective investigational new drug in clinical development for the treatment of patients with cancers that harbor abnormalities involving the tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRKs). Growing research suggests that the NTRK genes, which encode for TRKs, can become abnormally fused to other genes, resulting in growth signals that can lead to cancer in many sites of the body. In an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, larotrectinib has demonstrated encouraging preliminary efficacy. Larotrectinib is also being evaluated in the NAVIGATE global Phase 2 multi-center basket trial in patients with solid tumors that harbor TRK gene fusions, and the SCOUT Phase 1/2 trial in pediatric patients, including patients with advanced cancer, TRK gene fusions and infantile fibrosarcoma. Larotrectinib has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation by the U.S. FDA. For additional information about the larotrectinib clinical trials, please refer to www.clinicaltrials.gov. Interested patients and physicians can contact the Loxo Oncology Physician and Patient Clinical Trial Hotline at 1-855-NTRK-123 or visit www.loxooncologytrials.com. 

Contacts for Loxo Oncology, Inc.

Company:
Jacob S. Van Naarden
Chief Business Officer
[email protected] 

Investors:
Peter Rahmer
The Trout Group, LLC
646-378-2973
[email protected] 

Media:
Dan Budwick
Pure Communications, Inc.
973-271-6085
[email protected] 

VENTANA, BENCHMARK and OptiView are trademarks of Roche.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.