Q&A: Behind Ignyta’s New Strategy on Cancer Drugs and Diagnostics

Ignyta, NexDx, Jonathan Lim

much less attractive. In wanting to bring on strong drug discovery capabilities, we had a unique opportunity with the Actagene team, whose strength was in oncology, and hence the pivot from autoimmune to oncology.

X: What is the status of Ignyta’s original diagnostics technology for rheumatoid arthritis?

ZH: We have some intriguing diagnostic data for rheumatoid arthritis using purely epigenetic (DNA methylation) analysis. We have even more compelling, market-leading diagnostic data for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using this same epigenetic approach, and our SLE diagnostic panel has been validated across more than 400 prospectively collected, blinded patient samples. Because of Ignyta’s [new] focus in oncology, we will not be taking these autoimmune Dx assets forward ourselves, but they are available for partnership with a company who wants to apply an innovative new modality (epigenetics) to high-value autoimmune diagnostics.

X: Will Ignyta stock continue to trade on the over-the-counter market? If not, what is the plan?

ZH: The company plans to move to the NASDAQ in [the first half of 2014] by meeting the Nasdaq qualification criteria. We are already taking the necessary steps to meet these criteria.

X: How far do you expect to get with the capital you’ve just raised?

ZH: The capital raised most recently is sufficient to take RXDX-101 [one of the anti-cancer drug candidates licensed from Nerviano] through the completion of its ongoing Phase I/II study and into its first randomized Phase IIb or Phase III study (depending on the indication) as well as take RXDX-102 [the other Nerviano compound] into the clinic.

X: What are the Spark discovery programs?

ZH: The Spark-1, Spark-2, and Spark-3 discovery programs are three novel undisclosed [cancer] targets, which Ignyta has identified through mining its proprietary Oncolome database…We have initiated target validation and/or small molecule discovery efforts against multiple targets. Our goal is to have an IND candidate against one or more of these targets by end of 2015, and the drugs that we develop against these targets will be paired with companion diagnostics.

X: How many employees does Ignyta have now?

ZH: As of our most recent public disclosure (11/14/13), we had seven part-time and two full-time employees.

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Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.