Canadian Biotech Launches Screening Panel for Detecting Multiple Cancers from Single Blood Sample

StageZero Life Sciences Ltd., headquartered in Canada with operations in both Canada and the USA, is focused on detecting early-stage diseases with a particular interest in cancer.

On April 1st, the company announced that it was partnering with Health Clinics and Care Oncology to inaugurate their early cancer diagnostic program AVRT, which is focused on its flagship product, Aristotle.

Aristotle is a multi-cancer detecting test capable of screening ten cancers from a single blood sample with high sensitivity and specificity.

James Howard-Tripp, Chairman and CEO of StageZero Life Sciences, said, “The team at Health Clinics/Care Oncology will significantly enhance our clinical and scientific capability, adding depth and affiliations with key cancer centers as well as expanding the executive and the board. The partnership also gives us the necessary infrastructure to correctly cater to employers, where we go next”.

Aristotle Screening Panel

What makes Aristotle so special is that it has the ability to test for multiple cancers from just a single blood sample. Aristotle has been demonstrated to recognize sets of gene transcripts capable of labeling subjects as having a specific cancer type with an enormous degree of specificity. The company has carried out early validation studies in 788 patients across 10 cancer types and a total of 2,064 patients without cancer to great success.

StageZero intends to have two panels available for testing, namely: Aristotle Female panel and Aristotle Male Panel. Aristotle Female panel has the capability of testing ovarian, breast, cervical, endometrial, colorectal, bladder, stomach, liver, and nasopharyngeal cancers, while the Aristotle Male panel can test for prostate, colorectal, bladder, stomach, liver, and nasopharyngeal cancers.

The company intends to launch the kits priced at $1500 with the first kits being accessible to Care Oncology’s current US patients along with their immediate family members.

StageZero’s Revenues and their Path Forward

With one in five men and one in six women developing cancer in their lifetime, it is a massive global problem that costs the economy billions of dollars each year. Therefore, early methods of cancer detection are highly sought after and are poised to bring in millions of dollars.

Aristotle gained good popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. StageZero introduced a number of testing kits for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the revenues from which have kept the company afloat and increased exposure of its capabilities. The company has managed to bring in approximately $1.5 million in revenue in Q3 with their COVID-19 tests.

This experience has led them to not only highlight their cancer business and push Aristotle to the limelight, but also develop relationships with major healthcare companies.

“COVID-19 has significantly altered the current healthcare landscape but has positioned us well: it has propelled telehealth to the dominant means by which to work with patients, it is generating good revenue for us – Q3 and Q4 2020 and continuing into Q1 2021 and has allowed us to build out our organization and finance it to market Aristotle,” said James Howard-Tripp, Chairman and CEO of StageZero Life Sciences.

GRAIL, a company focused on early cancer detection is going to be one of the biggest competitors to StageZero with their in-house test Galleri, which works by detecting the tiny DNA fragments that cancer cells shed into the bloodstream. While sequencing giant Illumina is in talks to buy GRAIL, the FTC has blocked the move fearing a monopoly in the market. It remains to be seen if StageZero can achieve sustainable growth and prove to be a leader of the market.

Related Article: FTC Blocks Illumina’s $7 Billion Acquisition Bid to Restrict Monopoly of Cancer Diagnostic Market

Author

Tulip Chakraborty