Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) and Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings plc (LON:CIZ), the UK-based diagnostics developer, have announced recent progress evaluating specific monoclonal antibodies for Cizzle’s CIZ1B cancer biomarker. Cizzle has successfully completed an evaluation programme aimed at assessing the feasibility of using the Simple Western platform from ProteinSimple (a Bio-Techne brand) for high throughput detection of the CIZ1B cancer biomarker which may be useful in the detection of early-stage lung cancer.
The global lung cancer screening market is projected to grow from US$2.80 billion in 2021 to US$4.85 billion in 2028, representing a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period*. Furthermore, in 2021 the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated its lung cancer screening guidelines** for annual screening with low-dose computed tomography (“LDCT”), reducing the lower limit of the screening age from 55 to 50 years and the minimum smoking history from 30 to 20 pack-years. Under the new guidelines, 14.5 million Americans may be eligible for annual screening with LDCT and other early-lung cancer screening tests which is estimated could save an additional 10,000-20,000 lives each year.
Allan Syms, Executive Chairman of Cizzle Biotechnology, commented: “We are very pleased to be working with Bio-Techne, a global leader in bioscience solutions. We believe the Simple Western platform is an excellent fit for use in our development of a high throughput assay for the detection of the Company’s CIZ1B biomarker. Cizzle has shown that CIZ1B is highly associated with lung cancer at its earliest stage when surgical or other therapeutic intervention is possible, which is key to saving lives. We look forward to building on this important project as we push forward in bringing our novel diagnostic solution to market.”
Will Geist, President of Bio-Techne’s Protein Sciences Segment, commented: “We are pleased that Cizzle has chosen the Simple Western platform for the development of its novel biomarker. The automation, sensitivity, small sample input and quantitative nature of the Simple Western system makes it ideal for supporting an assay of this nature. We are excited about the progress so far and hopeful Simple Western can aid in making such a life-saving innovation available to the patients that need it.”
Cizzle Biotechnology is developing a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer. The Company is a spin- out from the University of York, founded in 2006, around the work of Professor Coverley and colleagues. Its proof-of-concept prototype test is based on the ability to detect a stable plasma biomarker, a variant of CIZ1 known as CIZ1B. CIZ1 is a naturally occurring cell nuclear protein involved in DNA replication, and the targeted CIZ1B variant is highly correlated with early-stage lung cancer.
