The boss of VolitionRx Limited (NYSEMKTS:VNRX) reckons the life sciences group’s Nu.QTM colorectal cancer (CRC) test could become the new gold standard in detecting the deadly disease.
Cameron Reynolds said the company made “strong progress” in 2017, and the hard work was rewarded earlier this week when the interim results from its huge – and ongoing – CRC screening trial in Denmark were published.
READ: Interim data suggests VolitionRX’s Nu.QTM can detect early signs of CRC
The results showed that by using just three assays (blood samples), when considered with subjects' ages and smoking histories, the Nu.QTM was able to detect 80% of Stage I CRC cases and 66% of High-Risk Adenomas (HRA) at 78% specificity, respectively.
“We believe these are the first data to show high detection rates in a simple blood test, not only of early Stage I cancer, but also of the extremely important high-risk pre-cancerous adenomas,” the chief executive said.
“We believe that with further development, our Nu.QTM panel could form the basis of new colorectal cancer tests with early stage disease detection, and that our tests could become accessible to and usable by a wide section of the screening population around the world.”
Larger trials planned
The promising results will still need to be validated in larger and representative cohorts, and that will be chief among the company’s plan for 2018.
Results from a 4,300 subject study will hopefully be available in the second quarter of this year, while Volition hopes to kick off a 12,000-plus subject study in the second half which will form the basis of EU regulatory applications.
WATCH: VolitionRx reports positive interim results from Danish colorectal cancer study
Meanwhile, in the US, Volition is taking part in what is believed to be the largest ever colorectal cancer screening study in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network with a cohort of over 13,500 subjects.
Collection is underway and is expected to be completed in 2020. The idea is to build on the European studies to refine test performance and to present final data to the FDA before the study is completed.
Just over US$10mln of cash in the bank
As for the numbers, Volition had cash and cash equivalents of US$10.1mln as of December 31 2017.
That’s enough money to keep it going for a little while yet, with the company burning through an average of US$3mln each quarter last year.