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OncoMethylome Sciences Expands its Collaboration with Schering-Plough

26 Oct 2006 - OncoMethylome Sciences announced that it has entered into a new non-exclusive service agreement with Schering-Plough. Under the terms of the new agreement, OncoMethylome will receive processing fees for providing Schering-Plough with testing services in connection with clinical trials focused on brain cancer as well as other cancers.
 
The new agreement creates a framework for OncoMethylome to provide further MGMT methylation testing to Schering-Plough. OncoMethylome currently provides this service for a multi-center clinical trial that is supported by Schering-Plough. The trial evaluates whether patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, can benefit from a more intensive temozolomide drug treatment regimen. MGMT methylation is being tested in this study for all patients' tumors.
 
The MGMT gene is a biomarker that has been shown to be methylated in a number of cancer types. OncoMethylome owns a patent-protected assay for determining the methylation status of the MGMT gene. Under the terms of the new agreement, OncoMethylome's assay will be used for MGMT methylation testing in multiple national and international clinical trials involving temozolomide in brain cancer and other cancers.