OncoCyte Corporation Enters into Global Licensing Agreement with The Wistar Institute

OncoCyte Corporation (NYSE MKT:OCX) has entered into a definitive global licensing agreement for a simple, non-invasive, blood test to aid physicians in the early detection of lung cancer with The Wistar Institute. The agreement provides OncoCyte the exclusive rights to commercialize this lung cancer diagnostic test.
According to the press release:

Since 2013, OncoCyte and Wistar have been collaborating on product development of the lung cancer diagnostic test. In 2015, positive interim clinical results demonstrating the high level of observed sensitivity and specificity in the assayed samples of a prototype blood test for lung cancer were presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference. Now, both parties are finalizing this assay, which is intended to serve as a confirmatory test for patients who are at risk for lung cancer (based on a patient’s positive or suspicious results identified by low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening). If successful scientific and technical results are achieved, OncoCyte will proceed to the test’s final validation with the goal of completing work in 2016 to enable its commercial launch.

William Annett, OncoCyte’s chief executive officer commented:

This global licensing agreement is an important milestone as we move toward commercializing our blood test for lung cancer. OncoCyte now has exclusive access to patented and unpatented technology developed at Wistar, including its scientific and technical lung cancer diagnostic expertise. This will be critical as we conclude our clinical studies, conduct the test’s validation study, and, if that work is successful, commercialize the new cancer diagnostic test. Our lung cancer test addresses a large unmet need for the estimated 10 million high risk patients in the U.S. who require annual testing. Today’s standard of care, LDCT screening, has a high false positive rate, so our lung cancer test is intended to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs to the healthcare system through the early and accurate detection of cancer.

Click here to view the full press release.