Caris Life Sciences and COTA Enter Collaboration to Measure Clinical and Economic Impact of Evidenced-Based Drug Selection for Precision Medicine in Oncology

Joint Effort to Power Guidelines for Profiling, Accelerate Drug Target Identification, and Personalized Therapy Selection to Make Patient Care More Precise

News provided by

Caris Life Sciences

Apr 07, 2015, 06:00 ET

IRVING, Texas, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Caris Life Sciences® today announced a strategic collaboration with COTA, Inc. (Cancer Outcomes Tracking & Analysis) to capture genomic and proteomic molecular data along with clinical information and outcomes data, to measure the health and economic impact of Caris Molecular Intelligence®, the company's panomic, comprehensive tumor profiling service, for cancer patients. Under the agreement, Caris Life Sciences and COTA will track and combine de-identified molecular data and clinical outcomes in a longitudinal database that is intended to be expanded across the Caris Centers of Excellence for Precision Medicine Network (COE Network).

"We remain committed to providing our physician customers with actionable molecular information to enable the delivery of precision medicine through appropriate therapy selection, including cytotoxics, immunotherapies and targeted therapies," said David D. Halbert, Chairman and CEO of Caris Life Sciences." This collaboration combines our robust database of molecular information with COTA's unique classification and real-time, longitudinal patient tracking capabilities to further expand access and utilization of our tumor profiling service, and to gain insights into cancer treatment outcomes, costs of care, and advance the discovery and delivery of more personalized targeted therapies. I am pleased to be working closely with a leading company that shares a common goal of helping physicians treat their patients more effectively."

COTA will initiate outcomes tracking at several pilot locations across the COE Network. The COE Network consists of leading cancer centers that have demonstrated a commitment to precision medicine and will work collaboratively to unlock the opportunity of compiling such an advanced data set in order to establish standards of care for molecular tumor profiling in oncology. The data collected through this collaboration will be used by the COE Network to reinforce guidelines with research publications and to develop a better understanding of cancer and the most effective means of treatment, with the ability to identify new drug targets in order to unlock the potential of precision medicine.

"We are pleased to be working with Caris Life Sciences, a leader in the tumor profiling space with over 70,000 patients profiled to date, and participating in their Centers of Excellence for Precision Medicine Network initiative," said Eric Schultz, CEO of COTA, Inc. "The combination of genomic and proteomic molecular data with COTA's precise classification and clinical outcomes information and economic data, will provide meaningful insights for both physicians and payers, especially as the industry moves toward value-based treatment and reimbursement practices."

Caris Life Sciences' evidence-based tumor profiling service, Caris Molecular Intelligence, correlates molecular data from a tumor with biomarker and drug associations from the latest clinical and scientific cancer literature. This information is used to help inform treatment decisions by identifying therapies that have the potential to be most effective and to rule out those that are less likely to work, based on the unique molecular characteristics of an individual patient's cancer.

About Caris Life Sciences® and Caris Molecular Intelligence®

Caris Life Sciences® is a leading biotechnology company focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine through quality and innovation. The company is developing its Carisome® TOP™ technology, a revolutionary and proprietary blood-based platform for the development of novel therapeutics, drug delivery and drug target identification. The technology is also being developed for diagnosis, prognosis, and theranosis of cancer and other complex diseases. Caris Molecular Intelligence®, one of the industry's premier tumor profiling services with more than 70,000 patients profiled, provides oncologists with the most potentially clinically actionable treatment options available to personalize cancer care today. Using a variety of advanced profiling technologies to assess relevant biological changes in each patient's tumor, Caris Molecular Intelligence connects biomarker data generated from a tumor with biomarker-drug associations supported by evidence in the relevant clinical literature. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout Europe, the U.S., Australia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit www.CarisLifeSciences.com.

About COTA, Inc.

Developed by world-leading oncologists COTA, Inc., has developed the unique CNA (COTA Nodal Address) System for precisely classifying cancer patients, and the platform and methodologies to enable doctors and health plans to improve patient care and move from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement models. COTA offers providers, patients and payers with the actionable, real-time insights they need to improve clinical outcomes, while reducing costs. Based in New York City, the Company's mission is to enable optimal care for every cancer patient. To learn more about COTA, call (866) 648-3833 or visit www.oncota.com.

SOURCE Caris Life Sciences