NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – UK cancer biomarker firm Abcodia today announced a collaboration with the Austrian Institute of Technology to validate biomarkers for the early detection of lung and colorectal cancers.
Accessing a longitudinal collection of serum samples derived from a population cohort involved in the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS), Abcodia and AIT will design longitudinal studies to validate panels of biomarkers.
UKCTOCS is a randomized controlled trial for assessing the effect of screening on mortality.
"Abcodia's expertise in longitudinal designs using the UKCTOCS sample bank, knowledge of cancer screening, and links with other commercial companies will prove invaluable in helping us advance our early stage markers toward commercialization and clinical use," Martin Weber, head of the business unit at AIT, said in a statement.
Abcodia COO Chris Hodkinson said that AIT has filed patents for tumor biomarkers in lung and colorectal cancer, and through the two entities' collaboration, he hopes the biomarkers can be advanced for use in cancer screening.
Financial and other terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
Last week, Cancer Research UK's commercial arm, Cancer Research Technology said it is partnering with Abcodia to develop blood tests for detecting early stage cancers.