Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Proteomics International Laboratories (PIQ) secures a worldwide licence for oesophageal cancer biomarkers
- The licence agreement to commercialise biomarkers that test for oesophageal adenocarcinoma has been signed with the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
- Under the contract, QIMR’s intellectual property in the biomarkers will become licensed exclusively to Proteomics, which the company will use to develop and commercialise a simple blood test for the cancer
- Proteomics says it will now undertake additional studies to confirm the diagnostic performance of the potential new blood test, which will take approximately six months
- Proteomics International is up 2.56 per cent, trading at 80 cents at 2:03 pm AEST
Proteomics International Laboratories (PIQ) has secured a worldwide licence for oesophageal cancer biomarkers.
The licence agreement to commercialise biomarkers that test for oesophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of oesophageal cancer, was signed with the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
With the contract signed, QIMR’s intellectual property in the biomarkers will become licensed exclusively to Proteomics, which will allow the company to use the biomarkers to develop and commercialise a simple blood test for oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
The exclusive licence is for 20 years, or the life of the patents. Under the deal, QIMR will be entitled to royalty payments from the sale or license of these licensed products, subject to standard terms and conditions.
The new licence agreement comes after Proteomics and QIMR validated the biomarkers in a joint study of more than 300 patients earlier this year. The patent family covers patents already granted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Europe, with further patents still pending in the US and Canada.
Proteomics International Managing Director Dr Richard Lipscombe said the test would be targeted at patients with Barrett’s oesophagus, a pre-malignant condition associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer, which occurs when the oesophagus is damaged by acid reflux.
Barrett’s oesophagus is an asymptomatic disease, and affects about two per cent of the population in the United States, Europe and Australia.
“These at-risk patients are currently screened with invasive and costly endoscopy procedures. Instead, this panel of biomarkers—or protein ‘fingerprints’ in the blood—can detect the early stages of oesophageal adenocarcinoma which we hope to do using a simple blood test,” Dr Lipscombe said.
Proteomics said it will now undertake additional studies to confirm the diagnostic performance of the potential new blood test, which will take approximately six months.
Proteomics International was up 2.56 per cent, trading at 80 cents at 2:03 pm AEST.
