Almac's unique gene expression report enables cancer researchers to discover exciting new insights

Craigavon, N.I., 26 September 2019 – Almac Diagnostic Services, a member of the Almac Group, will launch the complete version of clara^T at the ESMO Congress in Barcelona on 27th September. The Almac clara^T Total mRNA Report content has expanded considerably from the initial version launched the previous year at the ESMO Congress. The complete version now includes 92 gene expression signatures, 100 single gene drug targets and over 7,000 additional biology linked genes, categorised by all 10 Hallmarks of Cancer.

The innovative clara^T Total mRNA Report benefits both academic and biopharma biomarker discovery and translational researchers by saving them valuable time in analysing gene expression data and helping to maximise the understanding of their dataset. clara^T analyses multiple published gene expression signatures that represent the Hallmarks of Cancer simultaneously, and presents the results in a comprehensive, easy-to-interpret format. Researchers are provided with an interactive report that facilitates easy visualisation of novel molecular subgroups within the sample cohort and the key discriminating biologies within an individual tumour sample.

By allowing multiple biologies to be evaluated in parallel, as opposed to the traditional method of focusing on one biology alone, the clara^T Total mRNA Report supports the identification of novel insights, highlighting consensus signatures within, and between, the Hallmarks of Cancer. This analysis allows researchers to confirm known findings in the field, but more importantly helps to identify new and unique observations such as novel pathways and biologies predicting response to therapeutic targets that may not yet be proven to do so.

One such researcher who has benefited from using Almac’s solution is Priyanka Sharma MD, Professor of Medicine at The University of Kansas Medical Centre & Vice Chair of the Breast Committee at South Western Oncology Group (SWOG). Dr Sharma stated: “RNA sequencing is a valuable tool for interpreting the gene expression shifts that occur in tumors as a result of cancer therapy. We recently used Almac’s innovative gene expression analysis tool, clara^T, to simultaneously assess multiple biologies in a breast cancer clinical trial cohort. clara^T analysis revealed the specific Hallmarks of Cancer and novel expression signatures that are directly associated with treatment response in this trial involving a drug targeting the PI3K pathway. We anticipate that these exciting new findings may guide future clinical trial design and patient selection criteria.”

RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) data is complex and difficult to interpret, often requiring extensive bioinformatic capabilities. Almac has developed an optimised RNA-Seq platform alongside proprietary bioinformatics pipelines and software solutions to report and visualise this myriad of data in an intelligently simplified manner.

Professor Richard Kennedy, Global VP of Biomarker Discovery, Almac Diagnostic Services stated: “We are delighted to be able to assist leading cancer researchers like Dr Sharma with identifying exciting new data and look forward to the results being published in the near future. Our proprietary clara^T report has only been on the market for twelve months but has already generated considerable interest and has been adopted by some leading pharma companies and academic researchers for gene expression analysis. It has demonstrated its ability to accelerate RNA-based biomarker research, enabling deeper insights into translational cohorts for better trial stratification and potentially improving patient outcomes in the future.”

For further information on clara^T visit www.almacgroup.com/diagnostics/claratreport

To discuss your RNA biomarker research project requirements and how claraT can help, visit the Almac booth #473 at ESMO 2019.