Intellectual property resulting from the collaboration will be jointly owned by UCSF and Incyte and available for licensing through Incyte. UCSF will provide both normal and diseased prostate samples to Incyte for use in expression studies developed by scientists at UCSF and Incyte. The resulting data will be included in Incyte's LifeExpress expression database, the first database of its kind to integrate gene and protein expression data. LifeExpress enables scientists to explore and correlate gene and protein behavior in both diseased and normal tissues, prioritize potential drug targets, and more quickly assess the efficacy and toxicity of compounds. This is potentially a fantastic opportunity to make significant inroads in our ability to improve the early diagnosis of prostate cancer, to predict outcome and tailor therapies accordingly.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among American men.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 180,400 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and an estimated 31,900 will die this year. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths among American men, second only to lung cancer. It is not currently known what causes prostate cancer, or if it can be prevented. Current available treatments are limited. UCSF is a leading center in the study of prostate cancer, we look forward to working closely with them to identify genes that could be useful in drug discovery and development.