18 September 2017
Oncimmune Holdings plc
("Oncimmune" or the "Company")
Data relating to the development of Oncimmune's EarlyCDT®-Liver panel presented at the 11th International Liver Cancer Association
Nottingham, UK - 18 September 2017: Oncimmune Holdings plc (AIM: ONC.L), a leading early cancer detection company developing and commercialising its proprietary EarlyCDT® platform technology, today announces that data relating to the development of its EarlyCDT®-Liver panel was presented at the 11th Annual International Liver Cancer Association (ILCA), which took place from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th September 2017, in Seoul, South Korea.
A presentation called "Autoantibodies as additive biomarkers to AFP for the detection of HCC" showed that a panel of 10 autoantibodies could detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with high sensitivity and specificity. The test was also able to distinguish HCC from patients with chronic liver disease regardless of stage or tumour size.
These results provided the data for Oncimmune to develop its next test to launch - EarlyCDT-Liver - which is in its final stages of autoantibody panel selection and validation. The test is expected to be launched in the first half of 2018 and will significantly improve the performance of the current existing diagnostic test alpha fetoprotein (AFP), which has come under scrutiny as the levels can be raised in many patients who have liver disease but not HCC.
Geoffrey Hamilton-Fairley, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The detection of hepatocellular carcinoma at an early stage is crucial for a positive outcome. It is an especially big problem in Asia, and in Asian populations in Europe and America, where the incidence is many times that in the non-Asian populations due to Hepatitis B and C. Despite its low performance, many millions of AFP tests are carried out each year using a simple 96 well ELISA test similar to the EarlyCDT tests. The majority of hospitals worldwide have access to a 96 well ELISA reader and thus we believe that this better performing test should be welcomed throughout affected communities.
Poster details
Title: Autoantibodies as additive biomarkers to AFP for the detection of HCC
Number: P-083
Authors: Christopher Welberry, William Irving, Andrea Murray, Caroline Chapman
For further information:
Oncimmune Holdings plc
Geoffrey Hamilton-Fairley, Chief Executive Officer
Zeus Capital Limited
Phil Walker, Giles Balleny, Hugh Kingsmill Moore
+44 (0) 203 829 5000
Media enquiries:
Consilium Strategic Communications
Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal, Lindsey Neville
+44 (0) 20 3709 5708
About Oncimmune
Oncimmune is a leading early cancer detection company developing and commercialising its proprietary EarlyCDT® platform technology. Oncimmune has pioneered the development of autoantibody tests that can detect cancer up to four years earlier than other methods and can be applied to a very wide range of solid tumour types. The Company's first product, EarlyCDT®-Lung, was launched in 2012, as a CLIA test in the USA and since then over 150,000 commercial tests have been sold. EarlyCDT®-Lung is available through physicians in the US and also privately in the UK and other regions. EarlyCDT®-Lung is being used in the largest ever randomised trial for the early detection of lung cancer using biomarkers. The NHS Scotland ECLS study of over 12,000 high-risk smokers is now fully recruited and in the final follow up stage. EarlyCDT® tests for liver and ovarian cancer are in development.
Oncimmune, headquartered in Nottingham, United Kingdom with testing facilities in the US, joined AIM in May 2016 under the ticker ONC.L. For more information visit www.oncimmune.com