Cancer technology company Angle (AGL:AIM) has taken another step towards commercialising its cell separation technology called Parsortix. Latest test data shows the system is capable of detecting if some cancercous masses are malignant or benign from a simple blood test.
The clinical trials assessed pelvic masses shown up in 400 patients. The Parsortix system was able to tell the difference between benign and malignant pelvic masses with an up to 95% success rate. Parsortix also improves the rate of tests throwing up false positives, when initial diagnosis identifies a tumour as malignant only for it to turn out benign.
The clinical tests, run simultaneously in Vienna and New York State, were Angle's first large scale study. Further tests are ongoing.
This is a big step forward for the company, taking it further towards its goal of commercial clinical applications. The initial target market is ovarian cancer, where the company hopes Parsortix system can be implemented before committing patients for biopsy or surgery.
This could significantly improve the level of care patients get, as well as potentially slashing healthcare costs.
FURTHER TECHNOLOGY FINE TUNING
The Parsortix cell separation system isolates circulating tumour cells from the patient’s blood. Once these are harvested, the cells can be further investigated in what are called assay tests, which determines the detailed make-up of the cells.
Angle hopes to get the optimised Parsortix system approved with regulators in Europe and the US in the future.
Shares in Angle surged nearly 10% in early trading on Tuesday as investors jumped on the latest data. However, the reality of further extensive trials and an uncertain regulatory pathway dawned. At midday on 4 July the stock was trading 2% higher at 69.5p.
