Last checked at 4 Jan 2018 07:00
NetScientific plc
("NetScientific" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Glycotest™ Successfully Completes Clinical Diagnostic Evaluation in Liver Cancer
London, UK - 04 January 2018 - NetScientific plc (AIM:NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation group, announces that its portfolio company Glycotest has successfully completed a clinical evaluation of its diagnostic panel to detect Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, in China.
In a blind evaluation of 149 HCC positive patients and control samples, Glycotest's HCC Panel achieved an AUROC* of 0.97 and exhibited 93% sensitivity** at 92% specificity***, which indicates a high predictability on a statistical basis as to whether liver cancer is present in patients or not.
In the cohort of HCC patients whose tumors had not been detected by an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) blood test, the most common blood test used for initial liver cancer diagnosis, the HCC Panel was able to identify 86% of patients with liver cancer. In an early-stage cohort of patients with HCC, the HCC Panel was able to identify 78% of patients with liver cancer undetected by AFP.
NetScientific holds an 87.5% stake (67% on a fully diluted basis) in Glycotest.
Commenting on the news, NetScientific's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Glycotest, Francois R. Martelet said: "We are delighted to announce the success of the Chinese clinical trial, which validates the previous clinical studies performed with a combined total of 335 patients. Given that liver cancer is the fastest growing cause of death in the US and the leading cause of death in China, we believe that the positive outcome of the trial will be very significant for patients suffering with HCC. Commercially, we believe the opportunity to be very attractive, with an estimated total accessible market of $1bn annually."
The full text of the announcement from Glycotest can be found below.
For more information please contact:
NetScientific
François R. Martelet, M.D., CEO
Ian Postlethwaite, CFO
Tel: +44 (0)20 3514 1800
info@netscientific.net
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson /
Chris Welsh / Laura Thornton
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
netscientific@consilium-comms.com
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (NOMAD and Broker)
Jonathan Senior / David Arch / Ben Maddison
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 7600
Glycotest Inc.
Lawrence Cohen
Office: +1 646 722 4339
larry.cohen@glycotest.com
About NetScientific:
NetScientific is an IP commercialisation group focused on healthcare with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net
Glycotest™ HCC Panel Completes Successful Clinical Product Evaluation
New York, NY - 04 January 2018 - Glycotest Inc., announced today that it successfully completed a clinical evaluation of its HCC Panel in China. In a blinded evaluation of 149 HCC patient and control samples, the HCC Panel achieved an AUROC of 0.97.
Glycotest is a private liver disease diagnostics company commercializing new and unique blood tests for liver cancers and fibrosis-cirrhosis. The Company's mission is to reduce mortality and increase survival for the growing population at risk from serious liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC, the most common form of liver cancer. Glycotest employs unique non-invasive blood tests based on proprietary serum biomarkers, biomarker panels and assay technology that exploit novel sugar-based disease signal chemistry.
The HCC Panel exhibited 93% sensitivity at 92% specificity in this product evaluation. In addition, in the AFP-negative cohort, the HCC Panel achieved an AUROC of 0.93 and identified 86% of the HCC patients undetected by AFP. In an early-stage HCC cohort, the HCC Panel achieved an AUROC of 0.96 and identified 78% of the HCC patients undetected by AFP. Glycotest's proprietary HCC Panel blood test utilizes three novel fucosylated biomarkers along with three standard biomarkers and patient demographic data that are converted to a composite score by a proprietary algorithm. The HCC Panel score is intended to be used by a patient's physician to determine the likelihood that the patient has HCC. The effective identification of patients with AFP-negative and/or potentially curable early-stage HCC are significant clinical needs unmet by currently available HCC tests.
In three separate clinical studies involving over 480 patients, the HCC Panel has now demonstrated the ability to identify AFP-negative and potentially curable early-stage HCC more effectively than AFP, the currently dominant blood test for HCC. Professor Anand Mehta, SmartState Endowed Chair of Proteomic Biomarkers at the Medical University of South Carolina and one of the innovators of the Glycotest HCC Panel, said, "It is gratifying to see that the clinical performance of the HCC Panel for the identification of patients with potentially curable early-stage HCC as well as those missed by AFP remains consistently high and superior to AFP in three separate clinical studies. The HCC Panel could have a profound impact on the lives of the growing number of patients who will develop HCC as a consequence of their underlying viral or non-viral hepatitis."
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About Glycotest, Inc.
Glycotest is a private liver disease diagnostics company commercializing novel clinical laboratory testing services for patients at risk for liver cancers and fibrosis-cirrhosis. The Company was founded in 2012 on proprietary technology that originated at the Philadelphia area institutions Baruch S. Blumberg Institute and Drexel University College of Medicine. Learn more at www.glycotest.com.