Phoenix-based TGen announced the commercial launch of Vidium Animal Health, offering genetic diagnostic tools for veterinary oncologists and “pet parents” to better detect, diagnose and treat cancer in dogs.

The company’s official start comes after more than a decade of researchers pioneering the study of naturally occurring cancer in dogs to develop genomic-based precision-medicine for veterinary oncologists and pet owners.

“Vidium is built around the human-animal bond, as the majority of pet parents consider their dog part of their family,” said Vidium president and veterinarian David Haworth. “When a pet is diagnosed with cancer, it can be a really scary time for everyone, so we want to offer the very best information, and hope, that science can offer.”

Cancer is the number one killer of pets. Approximately, one in three dogs get the disease. 

Now, with Vidium’s SearchLight DNA test, veterinarian oncologists and pathologists can more quickly and accurately diagnose cancers, deliver a prognosis and identify therapies.  

Mutations provide clues to cancer types and appropriate treatment

Vidium’s SearchLight DNA can find mutations in the DNA of a pet’s cancer cells to guide veterinarians in understanding a cancer’s origin, its behavior and the optimal approach to its treatment, according to the company’s .

Not all cancers are recognizable to trained pathologists and oncologists who diagnose and treat them, but sometimes mutations in a cancer can guide diagnosis, which is a key part of understanding what a tumor will do in an animal’s body.  

To increase a pet’s chance of survival, the SearchLight DNA test can identify any of the nearly 120 known cancer-associated genetic mutations in dogs and use the molecular profile of misbehaving genes to help guide diagnosis and treatment. Some mutations only occur in specific cancer types or subtypes, so their detection can aid veterinary teams in identifying the cancer types.

Reports generated for clinicians and pet owners 

From a sample of the pet’s tumor, Vidium uses custom sequencing technology and a proprietary genomic knowledge database built on clinical and scientific publications to generate a report for the veterinarian and pet parents. The report describes all the mutations found in the dog’s tumor, summarizes what’s currently known about the association of those mutations with cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, and identifies relevant clinical trials.

SearchLight DNA reports are customized with technical language for clinicians and easier-to-understand lay language for pet owners that fully communicates the details of their pet’s condition. 

Future goal is to expand to other animals and diseases 

While Vidium’s efforts will initially be put toward canine cancer, its goal is to expand its genomic analysis to the treatment of other animals and diseases.

Beyond assisting with the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of dogs with cancer, Vidium will play a continuing role in the discovery of new associations between gene mutations, specific types of cancers in specific breeds of dogs, and clinical outcomes, said Vidium Founder and Chief Science Officer Will Hendricks, an assistant professor in TGen’s Integrated Cancer Genomics Division. 

“We are going to play an active role in changing the landscape of veterinary care, both through expanding our understanding of genetic biomarkers, and by facilitating access to targeted therapeutics that may make a difference in specific genetic settings,” Dr. Hendricks said.

Filling a void in pet treatment 

Katie Banovich, Vidium’s director of operations, said the absence of genomic technology in the care of pets is a tremendous void that Vidium hopes to fill.

“Through application of multi-disciplinary genomic science, we want to position Vidium as a partner in the veterinary care team,” Banovich said. “We want to be a guide. We want to work with veterinarians.”

To read more about Vidium Animal Health, which is a subsidiary of TGen, visit: . 

About TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope

Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix-based nonprofit dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research to unravel the genetic components of both common and complex rare diseases in adults and children. TGen is affiliated with City of Hope, an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. For more info, visit: .

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Diagnosis, surgery, radiation therapy, repeat. This is the typical process for a patient with a brain tumor.

Neurosurgeons must be extremely cautious when removing a tumor mass from a patient’s brain due to the brain’s vitally important role in all mental and physical functions, said Matthew Likens, president and CEO of GT Medical Technologies, a Tempe-based startup with a mission to improve the lives of brain tumor patients.

“If they’re too aggressive, then there’s a high likelihood they can affect very critical areas of the brain that affect memory and movement and speech,” Likens said. “As a result, they know they’re leaving residual tumor cells behind.”

Those residual cells mean the tumor can come back. If the cells are cancerous, the .

Patients often must wait anywhere between two to four weeks for the surgical wound to heal. To prevent the tumor’s recurrence — stop it from growing back — patients undergo an intensive treatment called .

“That is a miserable experience for the patients,” Likens said. “Many of them lose their hair during the daily external beam radiation. They’re shuttled back and forth to a radiation center. Each day they’re reminded that ‘by the way, you have a brain tumor, and we need to take care of it.’”

Enter the founders of GT Medical Technologies: Dr. Peter Nakaji, a neurosurgeon; Dr. Emad Youssef, a radiation oncologist; Dr. David Brachman, a radiation oncologist; Dr. Heyoung McBride, a radiation oncologist; and Theresa Thomas, a certified clinical research coordinator.

“They were desperate for new treatment options for patients with brain tumors — especially those patients with recurrent brain tumors,” Likens said. “In spite of really great surgeons and really careful therapy afterward, tumors recur. And if you’re fortunate enough to survive that recurrence, and you have another procedure, then they recur again.”

The GT Medical Technologies team developed a new way to treat patients: GammaTile. The small “tiles” of collagen are infused with radiation.

After a successful brain tumor resection (removal), the surgeon places these tiles inside the tumor cavity in the patient’s brain, delivering two-and-a-half times stronger radiation than the external beam.

“On average, this takes about five minutes, so it doesn’t extend surgery time significantly,” Likens said. “After the tiling is done, the surgical wound is closed, and within a day or two… the patient is eligible to go home. And that’s it.”

That’s it. No six-week therapy session and quarantine, no three-week waiting period before radiation, no time for the tumors to return.

“The founders commissioned an IRB-approved study at the in downtown Phoenix, and in that study they treated 108 patients across just about every type of brain tumor,” Likens said. “And the safety results reported from that study were very impressive. This mode of radiation is as-safe or safer than today’s current standard of care.”

All of the GT Medical Technologies founders were at BNI at one point, and three — Nakaji, Youssef and Thomas — still are. The company formed at LaunchPoint, a startup incubator in downtown Mesa. As such, it is “an .”

“We’re keeping it here,” Likens said. “Our chief technology officer, Dr. David Brachman, left his role as director of radiation oncology at Barrow just about a year ago, last March, and he joined us full-time to get his invention out into the marketplace as effectively as we can.”

But the company’s plans are not purely local. Right now, GammaTile is in a limited market release, meaning it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration but does not yet have the funding to be everywhere at once.

GT Medical Technologies recently received its Series A round of funding, which allows for limited commercialization of the product, and the company is several months in.

The first patient treated in a hospital setting received GammaTile at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, and two more were treated at the center on March 27.

Dr. Clark Chen, chairman of neurosurgery, is “seeking to establish a culture of innovation at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in neurosurgery” and took an immediate interest in GammaTile, Likens said.

“Our purpose is simply to improve the lives of patients with brain tumors, and we think GammaTile will accomplish that,” he said.

The founders of GT Medical Technologies hope to replace the current standard of care for patients with brain tumors, which they believe to be insufficient, he said.

The company is still in its beginning stages, but it has big plans. With FDA clearance, the company can move forward commercializing its product in the U.S., and the founders hope to expand the product’s scope soon.

“This is certainly a global opportunity,” Likens said.

In the future, GammaTile may be used in other parts of the body; Likens said the company has already claimed patents for “extra-cranial” tumors outside the brain.

“We just think there are so many advantages to applying the radiation in this way that every patient should have the benefit from it.”

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