If Freenome Holdings Inc.’s $254 million funding round is a sign, the capital markets for med-tech may finally be thawing. The cancer diagnostics company’s latest cash infusion brings its total funds raised to date to more than $1.3 billion. Freenome co-founder and Chief Product Officer Riley Ennis told BioWorld the company’s success in raising cash in a challenging market was attributable to the “perfect storm of huge unmet need and the opportunity that we have, given the treatment advancements.”
Elypta AB has devised new multi-cancer early detection technology leveraging plasma and urine glycosaminoglycans which can detect more than a dozen types of cancer in adults showing no symptoms.
Research led by Chalmers University of Technology and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden shows that glycosaminoglycans in the blood and urine can be used to detect 14 early-stage cancers.
Pharus Diagnostics Inc. emerged from stealth mode to streamline precision medicine-based cancer screening with its new multi-cancer early detection liquid biopsy test. Spun out from Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Quark Biosciences Taiwan Inc. in July 2022, Pharus is developing solutions to detect cancer early via Oncosweep, its multi-cancer early detection (MCED) liquid biopsy test that evaluates microRNA (miRNA) within the body.
The European Commission (EC) is proposing a novel cancer screening program that would improve cancer outcomes by fostering more frequent cancer screenings among European Union (EU) member nations. The primary focus is on screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, but the plan carries a lofty target of providing screening services for 90% of those who qualify for screening.
Inoviq Ltd. and The University of Queensland (UQ) are expanding a collaboration to develop an exosome-based ovarian cancer screening test. Researchers from UQ identified and validated exosomal protein and micro-RNA (miRNA) biomarkers that when combined in its OCRF-7 algorithm showed more than 90% accuracy to detect stages I and II ovarian cancer in an independent 500-sample retrospective case-control study, Inoviq CEO Leearne Hinch told BioWorld.
Truscreen Group Ltd. completed its largest clinical trial to date that showed its cervical cancer screening device surpassed liquid-based cytology (LBC) screening in 15,651 women across 64 hospitals in nine provinces in China over three years.
With FDA clearance of its Endoscreener that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect polyps during coloscopy procedures, Wision AI Ltd. is expanding its product portfolio to include colorectal histopathology tools.
The U.S. CMS has expanded the population of Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible for lung cancer screening via low-dose CT (LDCT) imaging. The news drew raves from stakeholders who also lauded the expansion of the facilities that can conduct the procedure, constituting a set of changes that advocates say will save thousands of additional lives.
Oncology genomic testing company Berry Oncology Corp.’s latest research results showed promising data for its Hifi platform-based technology, its CEO Jun Zhou said during the first International Biopharma Industry Week held in Shanghai. With the Hifi liquid biopsy test, users can receive early screening of six cancers, including liver cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer, with an overall sensitivity of 87.6%, specificity of 99.1%, and overall tissue of origin precision in 82% of positive cancers.