Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings plc (LON:CIZ), the UK based diagnostics developer of early cancer tests, has announced it has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a leading medical diagnostic services provider acting in partnership with the NHS. The LOI covers the verification and validation of the Company’s CIZ1B biomarker test with a NHS Foundation Trust partner in state-of-the-art laboratories which may lead to the Provider being appointed as the Company’s exclusive UK supplier of the CIZ1B test.
The discovery and development of the CIZ1B biomarker test is the result of many years of pioneering work by Professor Dawn Coverley, the Company’s founder and CSO, and her research team at the University of York. Initially supported by Yorkshire Cancer Research it has always been the ambition to ensure patients and healthcare professionals in the NHS and elsewhere should benefit from the Company’s work in early cancer detection as part of its commercial roll out plans.
As part of the Company’s commercial strategy to licence its proprietary test for the CIZ1B biomarker for use in the early detection of lung cancer globally, it has already secured a licence agreement in North America and the Caribbean, with guaranteed royalties and up-front fees of US$2.4 million, of which US$530,000 has already been received.
On 20 May 2025, the Company secured funding of £150,000 through the issue of convertible loan notes from the Company’s existing shareholder, Frazer Lang to provide additional funding to support the Company’s growth strategy, in particular to roll out its CIZ1B early cancer test in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The intended partnership with the Provider, which for commercial reasons is confidential at this time, is a result of that programme.
Having established a route to market in North America and the Caribbean, the Company was keen to ensure that patients in the UK and then elsewhere in Europe, will also benefit from how the CIZ1B biomarker test can help in early lung cancer detection. This aligns with the current NHS cancer plan to improve cancer survival by increasing the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 with an aim to save 55,000 lives per year by 2028. A key element of this is improving access to early diagnosis, and increasing the number of cancers identified through screening.
Under the terms of the LOI, the Provider will immediately carry out a validation exercise with the Company and provide clinical input for the intended clinical indication of CIZ1B. Cizzle will provide on-site technical support under the guidance of Professor Coverley to confirm assay performance data. Following agreed success criteria, the parties will negotiate a Partnership Agreement for the commercialisation of the CIZ1B test. The Provider may then be appointed as the exclusive UK supplier of the CIZ1B test (subject to regulatory frameworks, including CE/UKCA/HIE requirements) and together, Cizzle and the Provider will jointly develop a go-to-market strategy, including co-branding and aligned communications. A commercial distribution model based on revenue share or a licensing structure, with a rollout strategy beyond the UK into Europe across private and NHS markets, will be negotiated.
The Company will also continue to focus on supporting its US partner Cizzle BIO Inc, to secure CLIA accreditation to take the test live in the near term, and on completing the ongoing Moffitt study to test patients with suspicious lung nodules in a clinical evaluation, as announced on 9 September 2024.
Commenting, Allan Syms, Executive Chairman of Cizzle Biotechnology, said:
“We announced in May 2025 that while continuing to support the Company’s licensing partner in North America, we would now be seeking an additional licensing partnership in the UK and rest of Europe. We are excited to report we have now entered a LOI with a leading UK provider with partnerships with NHS Foundation Trusts. Our goal is to provide a first-class service to help drive early cancer detection at scale globally. We are now pleased that the UK will be the next phase of our growth plans in making the test available to many patients as soon as possible.
