OvaGene Oncology Joins The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Industry Collaboration Team to Advance Gynecologic Cancer Research

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- OvaGene Oncology Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of personalized DNA-based diagnostics for gynecologic cancer, is pleased to announce their partnership with The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) through the Industry Collaboration Team (ICT) program.  By becoming a member of the ICT, OvaGene Oncology demonstrates its commitment to building a strong partnership with the GOG research groups, namely medical centers, universities, and pharmaceutical companies dedicated to advancing the scientific and clinical knowledge of gynecologic cancers.  

OvaGene's mission to improve the quality of life and survival for gynecologic cancer patients is further enhanced by joining this select group.  The Industry Collaboration Team has a limited membership and OvaGene is honored to have been given an opportunity to become a member. By joining the ICT program, OvaGene will gain direct access to oncology leaders and key decision makers in the field gynecologic oncology.  This will facilitate direct communication with the cancer treating physicians about OvaGene's products and diagnostic research capabilities. The valuable feedback provided can help accelerate the development of OvaGene's product pipeline by allowing the company to identify and address unmet clinical needs.

"We are very pleased to be an ICT member," said William Ricketts, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer for OvaGene.  "The GOG has one of the largest archived and annotated gynecologic tumor banks.  It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to collaborate with the GOG as a member of the ICT and potentially on studies focused to discover and validate new molecular diagnostics. This will help us bring clinically useful tests to market for improved patient care and outcome."  

Dr. Neil Finkler, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for OvaGene stated, "We are very enthusiastic about this collaboration. The ability to run our clinical studies on archived tissues from the GOG, as well as future prospective trials, adds an additional level of validation and scientific review to our studies that will ultimately improve the quality of our product offerings leading to improved patient care."

About OvaGene Oncology

OvaGene Oncology is a molecular diagnostics company, located in Orange County California, dedicated to improving cancer care and outcomes for gynecologic cancer patients through the development of novel gene-based assays.  The company plans to offer proprietary and non-proprietary molecular diagnostic assays to assist physicians in the prognosis of gynecologic cancers as well as therapy selection, including radiation and chemotherapy.  There are over 11,000 cases of cervical cancer, 25,000 cases of ovarian cancer and 42,000 cases of endometrial cancer diagnosed each year in the United States.  The total market for OvaGene's genomic assays is over 80,000 gynecologic cancer cases diagnosed annually. Please visit our website at www.ovagene.com for more information about our company.

About The Gynecologic Oncology Group

The Gynecologic Oncology Group ("GOG") is a national organization dedicated to clinical research in the field of gynecologic cancer. It is one of the cooperative clinical trial research groups funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose and mission of the GOG is to improve and expand the treatment of gynecologic cancer. These goals are met through an exchange of information on programs of study, teaching methods and research activities among gynecologic oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse oncologists, pathologists, and basic scientists.  Visit www.gog.org for more details.

SOURCE OvaGene Oncology Inc.