Bioprognos gets green light to sell test to detect lung cancer in Europe

Bioprognos, a Catalan biotechnology firm and spin-off of Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, has obtained European CE marking to sell its first diagnostic test, an algorithmic system that helps detect lung cancer. The company, established in January 2016, closed a round of funding valued at €372,000 this summer through the Capital Cell crowdfunding platform with 88 investors.

The spin-off has developed this algorithm, called Mbdaa for Lung Neoplasia Dx, from a study conducted at Hospital Clinic over the past eight years, and then licensed it for exclusive use through a technology transfer contract with the hospital and Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica.

The test predicts an individual’s risk of having lung cancer from a blood analysis that looks at six tumor markers. The same test also indicates the histological type if the results are positive, based on these markers. It is a low-cost, non-invasive test that, according to the company’s data, can detect cancer with 90% sensitivity and 98% specificity, reducing the number of false positives and false negatives that are often seen in other diagnostic processes.

In addition to this system, which is ready to hit the market, the company is also in the final stages of validating a test for ovarian and prostate cancer. All of the diagnostic solutions Bioprognos is working on to detect different types of cancer use liquid biopsies, meaning they are done through simple blood analysis.