NEW YORK – BioMark Diagnostics will work with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York to develop early-stage lung cancer diagnostics, BioMark said on Tuesday.
Vancouver, Canada-based BioMark is developing a multiomic liquid biopsy assay for the early detection and screening of lung cancer, and will take part in clinical studies with Icahn Mount Sinai to study at-risk populations with its plasma biomarkers and machine-learning tools.
The partners also aim to develop a test for determining lung cancer subtype and stage using circulating tumor cells and metabolomics.
BioMark CEO Rashid Bux called the partnership with Icahn Mount Sinai a "significant opportunity" for the Canadian company, as it begins to expand to the US, where it intends to offer lung cancer screening tests. The successful introduction of a blood-based test in the US could also make it relevant to other regions of the world with a high rate of lung cancer incidence, which "lack the infrastructure needed under current imaging modalities," he said.
Fred Hirsch, director of the Center of Thoracic Oncology at Icahn Mount Sinai's Tisch Cancer Institute said he believes a "multiomic approach could fill in current gaps in scientific knowledge" and lead to more effective early detection approaches.
"Early-stage lung cancer is still the stage where the chances for cure are very high, and we need to put more emphasis on diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer," said Hirsch.
BioMark has multiple partnerships ongoing related to its lung cancer detection program. In November, it announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca, Pfizer Canada, and the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute to develop screening tools for the early detection of lung cancer.
Last month, the company said it had raised $1.2 million to prepare its lung cancer test for launch in Canada and the US. Bux said at that time that BioMark wanted to commercialize the test within the next 12 to 18 months.