Shimadzu Corporation and the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, a division of Providence Cancer Institute (Providence) in Portland, Oregon, have entered into a joint research agreement to apply mass spectrometry technology to develop tools for personalized cancer immunotherapeutics.
 
Shimadzu and Providence will develop technologies to reliably identify cancer antigens recognized by an individual’s immune system, and to analyze the pharmacokinetics of immunotherapy drugs, with the goal of bringing these novel diagnostics to early clinical application. 
 
“Immunological therapy has emerged as an effective cancer treatment. An important part of this research is to identify clinical signatures that can predict the efficacy of immunological therapies,” said Masayuki Nishimura, Ph.D., Director – Innovation Center, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI). “This partnership will integrate Providence’s leading cancer researchers and clinical resources with Shimadzu’s analytical technologies to contribute to the development of these new therapies. As a global leader in immunotherapy for cancer, Providence is an ideal partner to advance the application of mass spectrometry in immune-based cancer clinical research.
 
“In collaboration with Shimadzu, we want to build better diagnostics based on each patient’s unique tumor microenvironment. This will help inform clinical care with current immunotherapies and pave the way for the next generation of personalized immunotherapeutics,” said Brian Piening, Ph.D., Technical Director, Clinical Genomics and Assistant Member, Immune Omics Laboratory at Providence. 
 
SSI will direct this collaboration through its Innovation Center in Columbia, Maryland, and a new bioscience laboratory in Canyon Park, Bothell, Washington.