There has been some exciting news over the past few days that could mean that early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is possible.
Firstly, Korean company JW Bioscience announced that it had signed a licensing accord with Swedish company Immunovia for pancreatic cancer biomarkers.
Immunovia AB was founded in 2007 by researchers from the Department of Immunotechnology at Lund University and CREATE Health (the Centre for Translational Cancer Research) in Lund, Sweden and is “focused on revolutionizing blood-based diagnosis and improving survival rates for the patients with complex diseases” and “advancing early detection of pancreatic cancer”.
JW Bioscience has developed the technology to detect pancreatic cancer early with a diagnostic kit using the biomarkers CFB and CA19-9. It received patents in Korea, the U.S., China, Japan, and 21 European countries. Under the accord, Immunovia AB has secured the rights to commercialize products using CFB and CA19-9 globally.
The company believes the recently transferred technology “would diagnose pancreatic cancers that could be cured if caught in early stages with a minimal amount of serum sample collected from patients, meeting the needs as a novel method to increase the survival rate”.
You can read more by clicking here.
Meanwhile, Immunovia announced that the largest patient organization for pancreatic cancer in the US - Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) – has informed its followers about Immunovia, Inc.'s blood test IMMray(TM) PanCan-d on its website, in social media, and through direct email contact.
PanCAN posted on its website “there are now two blood-based tests available that can potentially detect cancer before it causes symptoms or is diagnosed through other methods. One test – GRAIL’s GalleriTM test – can signify the presence of more than 50 types of cancer, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. The other – Immunovia, Inc.’s IMMray® PanCan-d test – is the first-ever blood test specific for pancreatic cancer (pancreatic adenocarcinoma), available to people considered high risk for the disease due to family history or genetic alterations”.
"Pancreatic cancer is a tough disease. There isn't an early detection test for the general population, and there are very few treatment options, so it's exciting to see progress being made. The Immunovia IMMray(TM) PanCan-d test is an important step for some patients to be diagnosed earlier, have more treatment options and live longer",
- Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, President and CEO of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN)
You can read PanCAN’s full press release by clicking here.
Both stories demonstrate the value of research into pancreatic cancer. NIPANC concentrates its research funding in Northern Ireland, working collaboratively with others charities to fund vital research and promote early diagnosis of the disease.
NIPANC will be making an announcement regarding local research into pancreatic cancer shortly.
If you would like to donate or fundraise for NIPANC to help us fund vital research click the links or If you have a fundraising idea or would like some help or advice.
email: fundraising@nipanc.org
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