Oncimmune Holdings PLC (LON:ONC) shares rose 6% after it said a large-scale lung cancer study it was a pivotal part of was a success.
The company’s EarlyCDT-Lung test was used alongside x-rays and CT scans to check for the killer disease.
A total of 12,210 Scots were monitored for two years as part of the Early Cancer Detection Test - Lung Cancer Scotland (ECLS) initiative in what is believed to be the largest randomised controlled assessment of its kind.
Achieves goal
Sponsored by the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside and co-funded by the Chief Scientist Office, the study, to use the scientific parlance, hit its primary end-point.
Specifically, monitoring recruits reduced the incidence of people with late-stage lung cancer, or “unclassified presentation at diagnosis”, compared to standard clinical practice.
Oncimmune chief executive, Dr Adam Hill, said: “I am particularly excited about the potential now for scalable impact using EarlyCDT-Lung in a cancer control evaluation in Scotland, expected to commence later this year as well as the ripple effect of this landmark study on lung screening programmes further afield.
"Lung is the largest market in terms of unmet need in cancer diagnosis today," he said.
Of those detected, 75-80% are in the late stages where treatment options are limited and survival rates relatively poor.
"One way to tackle this is to detect it earlier in stages one or two, which gives better treatment options."
Preparations are now underway in Scotland to conduct “a phased population-based” evaluation using EarlyCDT-Lung that would recruit 200,000 people.
The Oncimmune blood test would be supplied on “negotiated commercial terms”, the company said.
A submission of the full ECLS study findings will be made to an unnamed, peer-reviewed medical publication sometime in the next quarter, investors were told.
And a late-breaking abstract is being prepared for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer World Conference on Lung Cancer on September 7-10 – the world’s largest lung cancer gathering.
Study in more detail
ECLS monitored men and women aged 50-75 who were at high risk of lung cancer but healthy enough to undergo potentially curative therapy.
The intervention was the EarlyCDT-Lung test, which uses a panel of seven immunogenic proteins to detect tumour-related antibodies specific to lung cancer, followed by x-ray and computerised tomography scan in those with a positive test result.
The comparator was standard clinical practice in the UK.
The primary endpoint was the difference, at 24 months after randomisation, between the rates of patients with stage III, IV or unclassified lung cancer.
Agreements in place around the world
Oncimmune already has European CE mark approval for the EarlyCDT- Lung test and has 18 global agreements in place with a total minimum of £33.5mln sales.
In May, the company also announced the start of a major trial in China to test for early-stage lung cancer.
In late morning trading, Oncimmune shares were 5p higher at 98p.
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