Sudbury RNA research startup nets $8M in investments

RnaDiagnostics, a Sudbury, Ont., company that studies RNA to assess whether chemotherapy is benefiting individual cancer patients, has received $8 million in investments from the Business Development Bank of Canada and venture capitalists iGan Partners.

The funding will support the startup's operations, as well as fund its BREVITY trial, a global, real-world test of up to 750 breast cancer patients to confirm whether RNA degradation is an accurate measure of chemotherapy is working.

RNA stands for ribonucleic acid, which contains information copied from DNA. If chemotherapy is effective, biopsies of tumours will show RNA starting to break down after several weeks of treatment.

"The value of this test is if you can monitor the response and you know, in that patient,[chemotherapy] is not working, then you can get them on to other treatments and forego some of the side effects," saysDr.Amadeo Parissenti, Rna Diagnostics' chief scientific officer.

Parissenti is a Laurentian University professor with ties to Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The Rna Diagnostics lab is based at the Health Sciences North Research Institute.

In 2007, he and research associate Dr. Baoqing Guo discovered the correlation between RNA breaking down and chemotherapy being effective. They applied for a patent through Laurentian University and the school received it in 2010.

A new way to measure treatment effectiveness

This is the first time researchers have ever connected RNA degradation to chemotherapy, Parissenti says. Although blind trials have shown good results in Canada, the researcher says doctors tend to be conservative and would prefer a worldwide trial, further removed from Parissenti's lab, to verify his findings.

"This is a completely new field. No one had even reported the idea that dying tumours have degraded RNA ... in response to chemotherapy," he says.

The BREVITY trial is designed to refine the RNA assessment tool. Parissenti says it has been in planning stages for the past four years, which involved meeting medical professionals around the world and earning their trust toward this trial.

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Parissenti says he hopes to see a surge in demand globally for this medical procedure. He says all samples in the world flow through his Sudbury lab, but he is exploring partnerships with other companies worldwide to expand testing capacity.

RNA assessment could improve patient care outcomes by reducing the amount of time a patient must undergo chemotherapy, if it isnot shrinking their tumour. Chemotherapy can have negative effects on the body and switching patients to alternative treatments sooner can reduce those impacts.

Parissenti says the technology has the potential to impact other types of cancer, too. He has used RNA degradation to successfully monitorthe effectiveness of chemotherapy in dogs with lymphoma, throughtrials with Ontario Veterinary College.

Research could benefit the north

If this technique becomes a widespread method of tracking the effectiveness of cancer treatment, Parissenti says it could have significant benefits to northern Ontario and Sudbury institutions. His lab trains and employs students, Laurentian University would earn royalties through its shared patent on the technology and Rna Diagnostics contributes rent to Health Sciences North Research Institute for its lab space.

"Dr. Parissenti's leadership in this strategic research is evident through his mentorship of learners in his lab and the positive exposure to meaningful research opportunities that will help patients in our northern communities.RnaDiagnostics Inc. is truly putting Sudbury on the map," says HSN Research Institute executive Greg Ross.

Rna Diagnostics expects results from BREVITY in two years.