NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — DiagnoCure said yesterday that it plans to develop and sell two molecular diagnostic tests for cancer that it licensed from Targeted Diagnostics and Therapeutics.
DiagnoCure said the tests are designed to detect guanylyl cyclase C, or GCC. The company said the GCC gene appears normally in cells lining the intestines, but has only been found outside the intestine when colorectal cancer has metastasized.
Under the agreement, Quebec-based DiagnoCure will develop the tests as home-brew ASRs in TDT’s CLIA-certified lab.
Along with other, undisclosed terms, DiagnoCure agreed to pay TDT around $2.2 million worth of its shares, priced at CA$4.30 ($3.87) apiece.
TDT also will receive milestone and royalty payments from any revenue generated from sales of the tests.
TDT, based in West Chester, Pa., was formed in 1994 to commercialize technology developed by Scott Waldman of the Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia.
DiagnoCure said that Waldman has found the GCC-based tests to be 95 to 100 percent accurate in detecting the spread or recurrence of colon cancer in the lymph nodes or in blood.