Metamark Genetics, Inc., a privately held oncology-focused molecular diagnostics company, and HistoRx, Inc., a diagnostics company developing tissue-based diagnostic solutions to advance individualized patient care, announced a multi-year licensing agreement. HistoRx has granted Metamark a worldwide license to the AQUA technology for the clinical commercialization of Metamark's proprietary MetamarkDx Prognostic Assays.

For several years, Metamark has engaged HistoRx for research work in support of Metamark diagnostic assays based on HistoRx's proprietary AQUA technology. The two companies have been working to achieve key validation milestones prior to finalizing this agreement. Metamark’s proprietary MetamarkDx Prognostic Assays will evaluate the molecular profile of an individual patient's tumour through quantitative expression analysis of Metamark's proprietary Prognosis Determinants. This will enable the identification of those early stage cancers that are genetically hardwired for lethal spread, as well as those that are less aggressive, thus arming physicians with critical insight to be able to guide their patients towards more personalized treatment strategies.

The licensed portfolio includes assays performed using HistoRx's proprietary technology for analysis of fluorescent immunohistochemistry, enabling quantitative assessment of specific biomarkers for patients with certain solid tumours.

We are delighted to be working with HistoRx and are eager to develop and validate clinical diagnostics for key biomarkers using the AQUA technology, and to ultimately commercialize them for the benefit of patients around the world," said Mark Straley, president and chief executive officer of Metamark. "Metamark's powerful Prognosis Determinants technology, and the multimarker assay panels developed from it, requires objective and reproducible quantitative measurement of protein biomarkers – something specifically enabled by HistoRx's AQUA technology."

"Metamark’s unique approach to investigating the drivers of cancer development and metastasis has tremendous potential for changing the face of these diseases," said Rana K. Gupta, CEO of HistoRx. "We are pleased to see the ways that AQUA technology and the collaboration between HistoRx scientists and the Metamark team have led to significant progress towards this goal."

Metamark is a privately held oncology company focused on the development of function-based prognostic assays for early staged cancers. The MetamarkDx Prognostic Assays under development are based on Metamark's proprietary Prognosis Determinants, genes discovered through leading edge cancer research and demonstrated to play a causal role in promoting tumour progression and spread.

HistoRx, Inc. is a leading developer of tissue-based diagnostic solutions to advance individualized patient care. The company's products and services are based on proprietary analysis of tissue biomarkers using AQUA technology. AQUA technology is the only platform capable of precisely measuring protein biomarker concentration with sub-cellular resolution in tissue sections, enabling fully objective, standardized, reproducible, and automated analysis to guide drug development and therapeutic decision-making.