BLOODPAC's Inaugural Summit to Address the State of the Science on Liquid Biopsy and Priorities for the Next Five Years

Members will discuss goals for supporting expanding analytical and clinical validation as well as challenges in access and navigating global regulatory frameworks

CHICAGO, March 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BLOODPAC) Consortium will host a virtual liquid biopsy summit – the consortium's first – to provide an update on the state of the science and outline strategic objectives for the coming five years. Liquid biopsies utilize molecular profiling technologies aimed at detecting and interpreting DNA, RNA, or other biomarkers in the blood to improve treatment selection, monitoring for recurrence post-treatment, and early screening and detection of cancer in high-risk populations.

"In 2016, when then-Vice President Biden issued the challenge to the cancer community to drive 10 years of progress in five, the potential for liquid biopsy to improve care for patients was clear," said Lauren Leiman, executive director of BLOODPAC. "But we recognized that the field didn't have a science problem - it had a collaboration problem. We built BLOODPAC to establish an ecosystem where members can openly share data and craft common standards that serve as vital guideposts for assay development."

Over the last five years, regulatory, industry, non-profit, and academic institutions have participated in BLOODPAC to accelerate the development, validation and clinical use of liquid biopsy assays. At the summit, featured speakers will discuss key accomplishments that have helped move the industry forward, including establishing an open data commons, as well as standards for analytical validation, preanalytical minimum technical data elements, consensus-driven generic validation protocols, and evaluation of reference materials. Standards and validation protocols were developed and informed by continuous input from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a BLOODPAC member.

To build on these critical milestones, the summit will host sessions focused on the key issues that liquid biopsy developers and other stakeholders will face in the next five years.

• Global regulatory landscape: The discussion will include a "fireside chat" with experts from the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) and the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). Topics will include how stakeholders can align liquid biopsy clinical expectations globally, the role of liquid biopsy in therapeutic product development and how these technologies can help address unmet needs in the clinical landscape.
• Molecular residual disease (MRD): Experts will highlight the state of the science for using liquid biopsy to monitor for disease recurrence or informing changes in treatment for patients with active disease, including standards development and the design of clinical trials.
• Accessibility: Panelists will discuss challenges and opportunities to bring liquid biopsy technologies into greater clinical use, addressing the needs of payers and clinicians to support adoption, and the role of liquid biopsy in addressing disparities in cancer care.

Each summit session will include presentations from BLOODPAC's Strategic Planning Groups, to update attendees on currently available resources for assay developers and projects in queue to support five-year strategic goals.

"BLOODPAC has proven that stakeholders can come to the table, park their competitive interests, and collaborate to identify and remove the barriers that stand between patients and the benefit that these technologies can bring to their care," said Leiman. "As a consortium, we're accomplishing what no single entity could do alone. The goals we've set for our next chapter will be challenging and complex to achieve, but the potential impact on patient care and outcomes will make it worthwhile."

Registration is free and the meeting can be followed on Twitter using #BLOODPACSummit.

About the Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BLOODPAC):

The Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BLOODPAC) is focused on accelerating the development, validation and accessibility of liquid biopsy assays to improve the outcomes of patients with cancer. BLOODPAC is a nonprofit consortium managed by the Center for Computational Science Research, Inc. (CCSR), which is an Illinois-based not-for-profit corporation. Today, over sixty organizations are BLOODPAC Collaborators and support the consortium's work by contributing expertise, developing protocols and providing liquid biopsy data into an open data commons. For more information on how to contribute or participate in BLOODPAC, an open consortium, please visit www.BLOODPAC.org and follow on Twitter at @blood_pac.

BLOODPAC Collaborating Organizations

BLOODPAC member organizations include Adela, Inc., American Cancer Society, Arkansas Bioinformatics Consortium, Association for Molecular Pathology, AstraZeneca, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Bristol Myers Squibb, C2i Genomics, Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago, Center for Genetic Medicine Research at Children's National Medical Center, Ceres Nanosciences, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., Delfi Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company, Epic Sciences, Exact Sciences, Fluxion Biosciences, Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Foundation Medicine, Inc., Freenome, Friends of Cancer Research, GlaxoSmithKline, GRAIL, Guardant Health, Horizon Discovery Ltd., Illumina, Inc., Inivata, Invitae Corporation, LGC/SeraCare, LUNGevity Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Merck, Movember Foundation, Natera, National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Novartis, OncoRNALab Ghent University, Open Commons Consortium, Personal Genome Diagnostics, Personalis Inc., Pfizer, Inc., Prevent Cancer Foundation, The Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Quest Diagnostics, SiO2 Materials Science, Streck, Sysmex Inostics, Inc., Tempus Labs, Thermo Fisher Scientific, University of Southern California, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber.

Collaborating organizations include AACR, College of American Pathologists, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. External Data Contributors including University of California in Los Angeles and the Henry Ford Health System.

Contact: Denise Prior, [email protected], 202-725-2553; Berna Diehl, [email protected]

SOURCE Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BLOODPAC) Consortium