Oncimmune Holdings PLC (LON:ONC) shares rose on Monday following news it has signed commercial terms to supply its EarlyCDT Lung blood test to the NHS Norfolk & Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group.
It has also inked a contract to provide the product to NHS Lung Health Check initiatives in Wessex and Yorkshire as part of the iDx-LUNG evaluation programme.
And, following in-depth due diligence, the company has also been told the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has selected the EarlyCDT for Diagnostics Assessment Guidance.
“The successful completion of this assessment will further support wider market adoption of EarlyCDT Lung in the NHS,” Oncimmune said.
The first phase of the Norfolk & Waveney contract, which is scheduled to start in January, will focus on patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules.
The test will then be used in certain GP practices in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in the “screening setting”.
The iDx-LUNG programme, meanwhile, will collect blood samples from 15,000 people attending the NHS England's Lung Health Check Programme.
"Detecting lung cancer early is key to improving chances of survival, whether patients have a nodule or not,” said Oncimmune chief executive Adam Hill in a statement.
“The body of evidence supporting the use of EarlyCDT Lung in patients at risk of lung cancer continues to build and is increasingly compelling.”
Early detection of cancer has become a very important part of the health service’s remit.
Grail Inc announced two weeks ago that it would make available its multi-cancer early detection blood test, Galleri, to the NHS.
“It is excellent to see the NHS increasing its focus on the early detection of cancers in order to help meet its goal of diagnosing three-quarters of all cancers at an early stage by 2028,” added Hill.
In morning trade on Monday, shares in Oncimmune were 4.8% higher at 175.50p.
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