A new database has been created to support pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the creation of new drugs to treat lung cancer, bringing the creation of personalised treatment for people fighting the disease one step closer.
It has been created by Beacon, data specialists who work with the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Beacon is part of Hanson Wade Group, a life science company focussed on improving drug development decision making. Based in the UK and USA, Hanson Wade Group runs life science conferences and expert summits for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
Increase in the range of data available on lung cancer biomarkers and assays.
Biomarkers are an increasingly vital tool for helping cancer patients receive the most effective and cost-efficient therapies they need. In its new Biomarkers and Assay database, Beacon has collated publicly available information on over 2,300 novel and established lung cancer biomarkers and over 480 assays, just relating to lung cancer.
This is significant, as by analysing and collating information from over 6,100 existing clinical trials and preclinical data Beacon’s work shows that there is a far greater number of lung cancer biomarkers and assays than previously thought. This broadens the range of information available on biomarkers and assays for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to study and use as the basis for the development of new lung cancer treatments.
Global clinical trial data for lung cancer biomarkers and assays
The Biomarkers and Assay Database has been in development since 2015 and has been created in consultation with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Due to the ongoing need for better drugs to treat lung cancer, and after consulting with its clients within drug development, Beacon analysed the global biomarkers and assays landscape and collated global data that would support scientists. It will help scientists to design trials where drugs are given to the right patients resulting in less unnecessary toxicity and increasing the chance of the drug’s success.
The Biomarkers and Assays database uses AI to identify published global research and clinical trial data relating to lung cancer biomarkers and assays. This research is then manually curated and added to the Biomarkers and Assays Database Platform. Scientists at pharmaceutical and biotech companies can then use the database to search for a particular biomarker and see which clinical trials have taken place and which biomarkers and assays have been used.
Beacon’s research helps scientists understand and benchmark the different biomarker strategies used in clinical trials and the various assays and associated protocols used to measure these biomarkers.
Importantly, the database also helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies to identify the studies and trials that are currently taking place. This will ensure that companies know the work currently ongoing in the industry so they can build on the work of others or focus on completely different biomarkers and assays which will bring about new discoveries.
Dasha Kaloujskaia, Lead Research Analyst for Biomarkers and Assays at Beacon, says: “Our work has accurately mapped the lung cancer biomarkers and assays landscape and has shown it is far greater than previously thought! The increase in the number of biomarkers now available has huge potential for the future treatment of lung cancer. Providing the data to enable scientists to focus on new biomarkers and assays is a positive step in the development of bespoke lung cancer treatment.
“Using the database, scientists can now build on previous research and identify which biomarkers have not yet been studied or why trials were not successful. Putting all global research together in this way greatly improves the access to data and the speed at which decision making takes place. Our aim is to have more scientists working on a broader range of biomarkers and assays as this will hopefully lead to the development of a range of different drugs to treat lung cancer, improving outcomes for patients.”
