Date: Sep 24, 2013 Author: Valerie Bauman Source: bizjournals (
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Seattle-based Presage Biosciences has been named one of FierceBiotech's "Fierce 15" of 2013.
The designation by FierceBiotech, a leading industry news site, sets Presage apart as one of the most promising private companies in biotech.
Presage is a spinoff company of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It's led by Dr. James Olson, a pediatric oncologist with Seattle Children's Hospital.
The company has patented a novel method for simultaneously analyzing multiple cancer drug candidates and drug combinations within a single tumor while that tumor is still in a patient. The method, called CIVO, is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
Essentially, the process involves multiple, simultaneous microinjections of cancer drugs into a tumor. After a day or so, doctors can remove small parts of the tumor to see which drugs seemed to have the most positive effect.
In addition to identifying the best therapy for a specific patient's cancer, this method could also help patients avoid the pain and wasted time of the current trial-and-error method in cancer treatment.
"Olson has embarked on a quest to take the guesswork out of cancer treatment for the benefit of patients like his own, and Presage Biosciences shows how team science can help make big ideas in biomedicine into reality," said Ryan McBride, the executive editor at FierceBiotech, in a statement. "This biotech has helped secure Olson's reputation as one of Seattle's most innovative entrepreneurs in the field."
Presage has already attracted attention, striking a deal in March with New Jersey-based Celgene, a global biopharmaceutical company.
FierceBiotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world each year before selecting the 15 it considers the most innovative, creative and promising. Prior honorees from this region include Bothell-based Alder Biopharmaceuticals and Seattle-based Theraclone Sciences.
