Angle's Parsortix Successfully Investigates Immunotherapy Target

(Alliance News) - Angle PLC on Friday said its Parsortix system has been successfully used as a liquid biopsy to investigate an immunotherapy target in lung cancer.

Shares in Angle were up 3.5% at 58.68 pence in mid day trade.

University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf has published results showing Angle's liquid biopsy system, Parsortix, can be used to investigate the PD-L1 status of a patient with non small cell lung cancer. A head-to-head study showed Parsortix could detect circulating tumour cells in almost twice as many patients as its leading competitor.

PD-L1 or programmed death-ligand 1 is currently a target for immunotherapy in cancer. The presence of PD-L1 on the surface of a cancer cell suppresses the immune system and prevents it from attacking that cell and so there are currently drugs in development which seek to target PD-L1.

Immunotherapy drugs can cost around USD150,000 per patient per year, however, so finding out whether a patient's cancer even expresses PD-L1 is considered important and also stops patients who won't benefit from receiving unnecessary drugs. At present, only 20% to 30% of patients respond.

Rather than a traditional biopsy in which a tissue sample is taken, Parsortix uses only a blood test and then separates the tumour cells from the blood for analysis. This is of particular benefit in lung cancer, where as many as 24% of patients will experience complications from a traditional biopsies.

Angle Founder & Chief Executive Andrew Newland said: "The ability to identify which patients will respond to PD-L1/PD-1 immunotherapies and to assess response to these drugs during treatment, is a major unmet medical need. The Parsortix system addresses key shortcomings in alternative approaches offering the potential for routine liquid biopsies through a simple blood test."