Parsortix gaining traction at EACR Conference

RNS Number : 2697E

Angle PLC

15 July 2016

 

For immediate release

15 July 2016

ANGLE plc ("the Company")

PARSORTIX GAINING TRACTION AT PRESTIGIOUS EACR CONFERENCE

New data from key opinion leaders on research undertaken with the Parsortix system highlights increasing use and broad potential applications

ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL OTCQX:ANPCY), the specialist medtech company, is pleased to announce that significant profile was achieved for ANGLE's Parsortix system at EACR 2016 (the European Association for Cancer Research Biennial Meeting) held in Manchester 9 to 12 July 2016.

Importantly, performance of the system was referenced in two keynote presentations by independent investigators, Caroline Dive of Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and Klaus Pantel of University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) respectively.

There were three separate scientific poster presentations on Parsortix accepted for presentation at the conference as follows:

1)  Fraunhofer ITEM (Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine) Regensburg, Germany: Surface marker independent enrichment of circulating or disseminated cancer cells from blood or lymph nodes using a microfluidic device

2)  Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute: Combined circulating tumour cell (CTC) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis of blood from patients with pancreatic cancer

3)  ANGLE in-house: A highly sensitive method for circulating tumour cell antigen quantification in liquid biopsy

The published poster presentations will be uploaded to http://www.angleplc.com/the-parsortix-system/download-files/ once available.

The published poster presentations add to the growing published evidence in support of the use of ANGLE's Parsortix system to easily and effectively harvest cancer cells from the blood of patients for analysis.

Key points in the published posters include:

·     Fraunhofer ITEM's findings in relation to lymph node cell analysis are potentially commercially highly relevant as their work identifies and demonstrates feasibility in a new market for Parsortix working with lymph node cell suspensions rather than patient blood.  Primary cancers often spread initially via the lymph node network.  The work undertaken was in melanoma where assessment of lymph nodes is "important for determining staging and treatment of melanoma patients".  This is the first time results have been published relating to the use of Parsortix with the melanoma cancer type.  Lymph node cell analysis is also applicable more generally, for example, in breast cancer a key issue at presentation is whether the cancer has spread from the breast to the lymph nodes.  Fraunhofer ITEM's work suggests that the Parsortix system may facilitate analysis of the lymph nodes to determine whether cancer is present or not.  This is an area ANGLE has not previously investigated.  Fraunhofer ITEM are a research use customer and their work is entirely instigated, directed, funded and executed by them, independent of ANGLE.

·     Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute's poster presents important work demonstrating a working protocol using a single patient blood sample for ctDNA and CTC analysis using Parsortix.  This enables researchers already working with ctDNA to additionally adopt Parsortix CTC analysis with the same blood sample allowing complementary and/or additional information to be obtained from CTCs.  Furthermore, it shows the capability of Parsortix to work with pancreatic cancer, which has not previously been demonstrated, and that the CTCs harvested can be subjected to DNA analysis for a key mutation KRAS.  The technique used was ddPCR (digital droplet PCR).  This may have wide applicability once optimised for the Parsortix harvested CTCs.

·     ANGLE's own poster demonstrated working protocols for determining the level of specific protein cell surface markers on the CTCs harvested by Parsortix.  This is particularly relevant as proteins cannot be assessed using ctDNA.  The two protein cell surface markers demonstrated were ErbR2 and gp100.  These are notable as they are key to the actions of breast cancer and melanoma respectively and are specific targets for drugs under development.  Identification of these protein cell surface markers on CTCs may be an indication of patient response to specific drugs in the future.  This would allow patients to have a blood test ahead of receiving a particular drug to determine whether the drug is likely to be effective in their particular case.  Consequently, the results presented will assist ANGLE in dialogue with pharmaceutical, biotech and immunotherapy companies about adoption of the Parsortix system for research use in drug trials. 

ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, commented:

"These presentations further highlight that Parsortix is extremely flexible and versatile and that its use is building.  At EACR, one of the leading European cancer conferences, we have seen customers develop completely novel potential applications for Parsortix; as well as demonstration of use in additional cancer types and the potential for patient drug response to be assessed.  In summary, these presentations further highlight the potential market opportunity and key role Parsortix has to play in the fast growing, liquid biopsy space, a rapidly growing market segment for cancer diagnosis and management."

For further information:

ANGLE plc	01483 685830
Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director
Cenkos Securities Stephen Keys (Nominated adviser) Russell Kerr, Oliver Baxendale (Sales)	020 7397 8900
WG Partners David Wilson Claes Spång	020 3705 9330
FTI Consulting Simon Conway, Mo Noonan, Stephanie Cuthbert Kimberley 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 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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