NEW YORK – Personalis said Tuesday that it has partnered with Ono Pharmaceutical and Japan's National Cancer Center to assess its minimal residual disease platform in a study of Opdivo (nivolumab) in resectable rectal cancer with mismatch repair deficiency.
Opdivo was jointly developed by Ono and Bristol Myers Squibb.
During the study, called VOLTAGE-2, Personalis will analyze samples from both tumor tissue and plasma circulating tumor DNA using its ImmunoID NeXT assay and NeXT Personal MRD platform.
Investigators intend to compare MRD test results with standard of care imaging and drug response data, assessing whether an MRD-negative result could serve as a surrogate marker of clinical complete response.
Richard Chen, Personalis' chief medical officer, said in a statement that the company believes data from the study will help it advance NeXT Personal for use in both rectal cancer and other tumor types.
Ono will provide Opdivo for the collaboration while National Cancer Center Hospital East will recruit patients and conduct the clinical trial.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.