HACKENSACK, N.J., Sept. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Champions Oncology Inc. (OTC:CSBR) ("Champions"), a company engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs, today announced the signing of a new discovery and drug development partnership with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries LTD (NYSE:TEVA) which will utilize Champions TumorGraft™ technology platform to enhance and accelerate the clinical development of several of Teva's oncology compounds.
This partnership, using the Champions TumorGraft™ technology platform, aims to identify highly responsive cancer subtypes, and their corresponding molecular and biochemical biomarkers of responsiveness to Teva's novel therapeutic agents, hopefully leading to new and personalized therapeutic options for patients with cancer. The development process will include initial screening studies on large numbers of TumorGraft models to develop response hypotheses for different tumor types and sub-populations. These hypotheses will be further refined and validated with more in depth studies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will pay Champions an upfront fee and Champions may also receive milestone payments and royalties for the compounds being studied if the response hypotheses are successfully utilized for clinical trial design and resulting commercial success of the compounds.
Joel Ackerman, CEO of Champions commented, "We are excited to announce this opportunity for us to work with the team at Teva to identify and validate sub-populations that are best suited for these compounds. This represents an exciting opportunity for us to align our success with the value our technology provides our customers."
About Champions Oncology, Inc.
Champions Oncology, Inc. is engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs. The Company's TumorGraft Technology Platform is a novel approach to personalizing cancer care based upon the implantation of primary human tumors in immune deficient mice followed by propagation of the resulting engraftments, or TumorGrafts, in a manner that preserves the biological characteristics of the original human tumor in order to determine the efficacy of a treatment regimen. The Company uses this technology in conjunction with related services to offer solutions for two customer groups: Personalized Oncology Solutions, in which results help guide the development of personalized treatment plans, and Translational Oncology Solutions, in which pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking personalized approaches to drug development can lower the cost and increase the speed of developing new drugs. TumorGrafts are procured through agreements with a number of institutions in the U.S. and overseas as well as through its Personalized Oncology Solutions business.
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995) that inherently involve risk and uncertainties. Champions Oncology generally uses words such as "believe," "may," "could," "will," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. One should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many unforeseen factors. See Champions Oncology's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013 for a discussion of such risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made, and Champions Oncology's future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may not meet these expectations. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in Champions Oncology's expectations, except as required by law.