Parsortix enables analysis in head and neck cancer

RNS Number : 2731B

Angle PLC

03 April 2017

 

For immediate release

3 April 2017

ANGLE plc ("the Company")

PARSORTIX ENABLES GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER

Customer presents clinically relevant results at AACR 2017 with Parsortix where alternative approaches have failed

University of Athens, Attikon University Hospital, Greece first to demonstrate use of the Parsortix system in head and neck cancer

ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL OTCQX:ANPCY), the specialist medtech company, is delighted to announce that the University of Athens and Attikon University Hospital, Greece are today presenting highly encouraging results from their work with ANGLE's Parsortix system in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas at the American Association for Cancer Research conference (AACR) 2017, in Washington DC.

The results show that in a study of 40 cancer patients, the Parsortix system demonstrated higher sensitivity and greater purity in harvesting CTCs for analysis than leading alternative approaches.  Information regarding the expression of key genes (including PD-L1 and CK-19) could be determined from simple blood samples taken from each patient.  In parallel, identical samples from each patient were assessed using antibody-based (EpCAM-dependent) approaches. These approaches failed to detect PD-L1 or CK-19 in any of the 40 samples.

The University of Athens work suggest that, for the first time, it might be possible to assess gene expression of head and neck cancers using a Parsortix non-invasive liquid biopsy.  Gene expression of biomarkers such as PD-L1 provides key information regarding likely patient response to immunotherapies and has the potential to be of significant clinical importance for the therapy selection and follow-up of patients.

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide with over 600,000 new patients diagnosed annually resulting in more than 350,000 deaths every year.  More than 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) which account for 5-10% of all new cancer cases in Europe and North America.

Head and neck cancer represents a new market opportunity for Parsortix as other liquid biopsy approaches have been unsuccessful in this indication: gene expression analysis cannot be achieved with antibody-based CTC systems due to low expression of EpCAM and cannot be achieved using alternative ctDNA approaches as it is based on RNA.

Prof Evi Lianidou, Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory focused on Liquid Biopsy, University of Athens, commented:

"The low EpCAM expression in head and neck cancer has previously prevented us from liquid biopsy analysis. The Parsortix system's epitope independence, high sensitivity and purity now makes this possible. Our results show excellent RNA quality and the potential to analyse a simple blood test to provide key gene expression information."

ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, commented:

"The advantages of the Parsortix system, in head and neck cancer, over the existing antibody-based approaches increases the market opportunity available to ANGLE. The University of Athens is a leader in CTC research and the successful completion of this work by a customer validates a key element of our roll-out strategy of using research-use sales to drive the development of clinical applications for the Parsortix system."

For further information:

ANGLE plc	01483 685830
Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director
Cenkos Securities Stephen Keys (Nominated adviser), Steve Cox Russell Kerr (Sales)	020 7397 8900
WG Partners David Wilson Claes Spång	020 3705 9330
FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Mo Noonan, Stephanie Cuthbert Kimberly Ha (US)	020 3727 1000 001 212 850 5612

For Frequently Used Terms, please see the Company's website on http://www.angleplc.com/the-parsortix-system/glossary/

This announcement contains inside information.

Notes for editors

About ANGLE plc     www.angleplc.com 

ANGLE is a specialist medtech company commercialising a disruptive platform technology that can capture cells circulating in blood, such as cancer cells, even when they are as rare in number as one cell in one billion blood cells, and harvest the cells for analysis.

ANGLE's cell separation technology is called the Parsortix^TM system and it enables a liquid biopsy (simple blood test) to be used to provide the cells of interest. Parsortix is the subject of granted patents in Europe, the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Australia and three extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide. The system is based on a microfluidic device that captures live cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility. Parsortix has a CE Mark for Europe and FDA authorisation is in process for the United States. 

ANGLE has established formal collaborations with world-class cancer centres.  These Key Opinion Leaders are working to identify applications with medical utility (clear benefit to patients), and to secure clinical data that demonstrates that utility in patient studies.  Details are available here http://www.angleplc.com/the-company/collaborators/ 

The analysis of the cells that can be harvested from patient blood with ANGLE's Parsortix system has the potential to help deliver personalised cancer care offering profound improvements in clinical and health economic outcomes in the treatment and diagnosis of various forms of cancer.

The global increase in cancer to a 1 in 3 lifetime incidence is set to drive a multi-billion dollar clinical market. The Parsortix system is designed to be compatible with existing major medtech analytical platforms and to act as a companion diagnostic for major pharma in helping to identify patients that will benefit from a particular drug and then monitoring the drug's effectiveness.

As well as cancer, the Parsortix technology has the potential for deployment with several other important cell types in the future.

ANGLE stock trades on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AGL and in New York on the OTC-QX under the ticker symbol ANPCY. For further information please visit: www.angleplc.com

 

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