What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is predicted to be the 2nd cause of death by cancer in Western Countries in 2023. For nearly 80% of patients (~51,000 and ~150K in USA and EU patients in 2017), diagnosis occurs at an advanced, non-surgical stage, making them incurable. The high mortality rate, with more than 95% of patients dead at 5 years, versus 13% for breast cancer, is partly due to the difficulty to diagnose, but also because of the lack of stratification of patients and a limited choice for treatments in the current decision-making process.
The treatment paradigm for pancreatic cancer is predominantly composed of chemotherapies, most notably gemcitabine-based and Folfirinox therapies, which are considered to be gold standard for pancreatic cancer. Up until now, the algorithm of decision-making (treatment choice) in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) management does not mention pharmacogenomics biomarkers, needed to stratify patient populations and to choose the best treatment with the best clinical effectiveness for a given patient. These regimens have very different toxicities profiles which factors in to which regimen is recommended.
Through ImOPac project, Acobiom aims to implement an innovative approach to improve personalized pancreatic cancer management in the decision-making process of PDAC, by using biomarkers to help in the patient stratification. This approach is the GemciTest®, a non-invasive test based on a nine gene predictive signature for gemcitabine-based therapies sensitivity.
B. Why is it important for society?
On one side, the Global Pancreatic Cancer market accounted for $1,904.20 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $4,728.19 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 10.6% during the forecast period. Advancement of technology in therapeutic devices and expanding prevalence of cancer growth are the factors driving the market. However, accessibility of costly treatment and poor repayment strategies in the emerging regions of the world are some of the factors which may hamper the market growth during the forecast period.
On the other side, Goldstein DA and coll. (Medical Oncol., 2016) described a complete cost description of chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. They described the monthly costs and the overall treatment costs for gemcitabine-based and Folfirinox therapies. In addition to the cost of drugs, they included administration expenditures and costs of toxicities, including growth factor support, blood product transfusion and re-hospitalization. This complete medico-economic study is unique and has shown the explosive cost of inappropriate treatments for Hospital and Payer, and deadly side-effects for patient.
Thus, GemciTest® justifies its unique and innovative potential because it can:
1. facilitate precision medicine by guiding clinicians towards the measured choice of optimal therapy,
2. reduce and control overall healthcare costs in pancreatic cancer,
3. improve the quality of life of the patient.
C. What are the overall objectives?
Combining innovative strategy and medical needs, ACOBIOM is intended to open up new opportunities in "PDAC" treatment. Acobiom’s IVD is able to be integrated into daily practice and incorporated into the treatment decision-making process to optimize patient outcomes including performance, nutritional and psychological status, patient's age, pain, and other comorbidities.
Thanks to this innovation, Acobiom has an opportunity to create an EU new market. Acobiom needs to strengthen its competencies and to develop senior positions in Medical Affairs, Sales and Marketing, and Global Alliances.
