(By Balaseshan) TrovaGene Inc. (NASDAQ: TROV) said it has granted Duke University and Duke University Health Systems a non-exclusive license to incorporate nucleophosmin protein (NPM1) into research and clinical testing services for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).
Trovagene holds an exclusive worldwide license to U.S. patent 8,222,370 and the corresponding group of U.S. and foreign patent applications around NPM1. Terms of the agreement include upfront fees and royalty payments. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
Within the United States, Trovagene has granted non-exclusive sub-licenses to offer mutation analysis of NPM1 as a laboratory service for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with AML to Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, Fairview Health Services and Invivoscribe Technologies; internationally, license holders include Münchner Leukamielabor GmbH (MLL) in Munich, Germany and Skyline Labs in the Netherlands.
In addition, Trovagene has granted a co-exclusive license to manufacture and sell NPM1 mutation kits to Asuragen, Inc. and Ipsogen S.A. AML is a clinically heterogeneous disease that affects patients worldwide.
About 13,000 new cases per year occur in the U.S., and nearly 9,000 patients die from the disease annually. Chromosome analysis of leukemia cells provides valuable prognostic information for physicians treating AML patients.
Mutations involving the NPM1 gene are the most frequent molecular alteration in AML patients with normal chromosomes, accounting for nearly one-third of adult AML cases. AML patients with isolated NPM1 mutations have been shown to have better responses to induction chemotherapy and a more favorable overall prognosis.
TROV closed Wednesday's regular session down 2.41% at $6.88. The stock has been trading between $1.86 and $7.75 for the past 52 weeks.