Cizzle Biotech secures partnership to develop lung cancer test
UNIVERSITY spin-out Cizzle Biotechnology has teamed up with clinical diagnostics company Fujirebio Diagnostics Incorporated (FDI) to develop a blood test for the detection of early stage lung cancers.
Under the licence FDI is granted exclusive rights to patents and technology developed by Cizzle’s chief scientist Dr Dawn Coverley of the University of York’s Department of Biology.
FDI and Cizzle will work together to develop a commercially valid test that can be taken forward through regulatory and clinical development worldwide.
The test arises from the research of Dr Coverley and colleagues, funded by a group of investors led by the charity Yorkshire Cancer Research, the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund and Finance Yorkshire, which demonstrated that an altered form of the protein known as Ciz1 is present in lung cancers.
This altered form can be detected in blood samples of patients, even when the cancer is at a very early stage.
The findings, published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October 2012 were protected and developed by Cizzle, a University of York-spin-out, to the point at which an international partner could be approached.
Early detection of lung cancer has been shown to save lives, but current methods for screening at-risk people are either too costly or involve invasive procedures. For advanced lung cancer, the long-term survival rate is only about 5%.
Unlike some other common cancers, survival rates have not improved significantly in more than 30 years and there is an unmet need for new clinical biomarkers in this field.
Cizzle was founded to exploit the work of Dr Coverley and colleagues with the aim of developing the commercial potential of scientific discoveries and realising their value in clinical use.
Cizzle will work with FDI through a supported research agreement to develop the research lab test into a simplified version that can be used in clinical practice.
Dr Coverley said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to combine the specialist knowledge of my team with the resources and expertise of Fujirebio to realise the full potential of Ciz1 in cancer diagnostics.
“We think this relationship is exactly what is needed to take our exciting results to the next stage and deliver a fully functioning test that will be of tangible benefit to cancer patients.”
