Emerging Applications for Liquid Biopsy in Drug Development

Precision oncology represents a mainstay for cancer treatment through the targeting of specific molecular and genetic alterations associated with a patient’s tumor. With the emergence of pan-solid tumor approvals for immunotherapies such as pembrolizumab and receptor kinase inhibitors such as larotrectinib, it is the biomarkers themselves rather than the individual tumor type that is predictive of response to therapy and represents an exciting time in the war on cancer. With more than 50 percent of all new therapy approvals classified as precision medicines, there is an increased need to identify patient populations most likely to benefit from therapy, as well as maximize patient access to these treatments. Due to advances in next-generation sequencing for evaluation of the human genome, comprehensive analyses of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) through the liquid biopsy, represents a minimally invasive means to diagnose cancer.

A liquid biopsy can detect mutations associated with treatment selection, monitor tumor evolution and predict disease recurrence or relapse. Due to the broad range of ctDNA applications, these liquid biopsy analyses enable a valuable tool to facilitate therapeutic development and expedite access to life-saving treatments for patients.

This webinar will highlight the different areas where liquid biopsy analyses are being applied in drug development today, including in advanced-stage disease for patient selection or stratification, evaluating treatment efficacy and understanding underlying genetic mechanisms of clinical response and resistance to guide future treatment strategies.

Register to learn about the emerging applications for liquid biopsy, including evaluation of molecular residual disease in early-stage cancer.

Speakers

(Moderator) Taylor Jensen, PhD, Vice President, Head of Oncology Science, Labcorp

Taylor Jensen, PhD, is Vice President, Head of Oncology Science at Labcorp where he focuses on biomarkers, precision medicine diagnostic assays and product strategy. After studying cancer epigenetics at the University of Arizona, Dr. Jensen joined Sequenom in 2009 and was part of the team that developed and launched the first commercially available non-invasive prenatal test based on circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the US. Subsequently, Dr. Jensen has been involved in numerous assay development efforts focused on the identification and detection of genomic and epigenetic changes in cfDNA for use in prenatal and cancer diagnostics. Since the acquisition of Sequenom by Labcorp in 2016, his work has been primarily focused on the development of novel technologies and assays, primarily using cfDNA, with the overarching goal of utilizing these technologies to improve human health.

Dr. Jensen is a member of multiple professional societies including the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, has contributed to multiple awarded patents and has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals. He holds a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Arizona Cancer Center.

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Mark Sausen, PhD, Executive Director, Head of Technology Innovation, PGDx, Labcorp

Mark Sausen, PhD, has driven the planning, development and execution of projects in genetics and genomics for life sciences companies and academic research centers over the past 15 years. Previously, as Vice President, Research and Development at PGDx, he led the development of their NGS-based in vitro diagnostic platforms, achieving proof of concept for plasma-based detection capabilities which contributed to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakthrough device designation. Dr. Sausen was most recently Scientific Director, Clinical Genetics and Genomics, at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, he co-led platform development and partnered strategies for liquid biopsy clinical development opportunities and guided exploratory genomics applications with respect to solid tumor disease biology, pharmacodynamics and patient segmentation.

Dr. Sausen has also contributed to research at the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and the Human Performance Laboratory. Dr. Sausen holds a PhD in cellular and molecular medicine from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has received numerous awards and research grants for his work in genomics and diagnostics.

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