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With a global footprint across three continents, Cancer Genetics, Inc. (CGIX) has been supporting innovative drug discovery and biomarker development programs in oncology and immuno-oncology
at leading pharma companies, emerging biotechs and academic research centers worldwide. CGIX is undergoing a significant strategic shift to focus on enhancing drug discovery through the
advanced use of technology at the forefront of innovation. Against a backdrop of increasing drug development costs and evolving demands in testing and evaluation tools, CGIX is driving its
mission to help translational science teams streamline the drug discovery process and accelerate the path to the clinic. According to Jay Roberts, CEO and President of CGIX, “we are
committed to helping our clients reduce risk, costs and timelines in drug discovery, and to identify safe and efficacious medicines by providing access to state-of-the-art as well as
traditional testing platforms in combination with customized consultation services.” CGIX is fulfilling its mission by identifying and accessing a global network of proprietary preclinical
test systems, relevant animal models, unique in-vitro and in-silico models, intelligent design platforms and optimized analytics designed to help accelerate its clients’ research pipelines
(Fig. 1). BRIDGING RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND TRANSLATION CGIX’s approach is designed around building partnerships with its clients to maximize the expected returns on their significant
investments in drug development programs. Whether they are interested in performing only a particular experiment or need to tie together multiple scientific and research modalities to deploy
innovative discovery models, CGIX engages with its clients to understand their goals and help them draft an optimal roadmap. In addition to launching innovative and technologically advanced
discovery models, CGIX ensures regulatory compliance by operating a broad and flexible toolbox of proprietary preclinical services in Association for Assessment and Accreditation of
Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC)-accredited and good laboratory practice (GLP)-compliant and audited facilities. CGIX’s platform includes well-established, GLP-compliant
toxicology, efficacy and analytical chemistry programs augmented by the company’s in-house expertise in pharmacology. Downstream, the company offers highly consistent, scalable, functional
and physiologically relevant cell-based assay platforms, orthotopic and metastasis tumor models and whole body imaging, all of which are rapidly evolving areas in the oncology and
immuno-oncology fields. To tie together all these technical aspects, CGIX has developed a collaborative platform to work closely with its clients on developing regulatory frameworks and
relevant financial models to help guide and optimize their overall drug discovery programs. “We are building an amazing and highly qualified team to assure our solutions are focused on the
regulatory environment where science and technology need to be bridged,” said Roberts. CGIX further augments these services by adding expertise in translational drug discovery in areas such
as validation of solutions and risk mitigation across multi-modality disciplines. Such evidence-based validations bring value to the client partner and its patients, by identifying
biomarkers that can be identified and act as predictors of functional rescue from discovery models to human clinical trials. “At CGIX we firmly believe that the key to success in drug
discovery is the development of multipronged solutions that optimize the path from bench to in-human testing,” added Roberts. “This requires a close collaboration between us and our client
partners in order to draft a roadmap that is most relevant to their patients’ needs, regulatory framework and business constraints.” A FLEXIBLE COLLABORATIVE MODEL CGIX is committed to
helping its partners accelerate their pipelines through the company’s streamlined translational platform. As such, a flexible partnering philosophy facilitates collaborations that maximize
the impact of CGIX’s discovery technologies on the partner’s research and development programs. CGIX has developed a flexible collaborative model that allows it to act either as a contract
research developer providing tailored solutions for pharma and biotech companies as well as academic institutions, or as a research partner offering custom solutions under individualized
licensing agreements to help advance therapeutic development projects in academic labs and biotech startups. CGIX’s goal is to help its partners close the gap between research and
translation to advance innovation. In Roberts’ words, “CGIX supports clients and partners worldwide in this process to reduce risk, save time, improve the biological quality of their lead
candidates and ultimately help increase the value of their drug development pipelines. Our comprehensive solutions include the most innovative technologies and unique in vitro, in vivo and
in silico models to deliver highly relevant data and reports, to provide our clients and partners the insights and knowledge they need to accelerate their Investigational New Drug filings.”