Liquid biopsies would allow today new patient populations to have access to the latest cancer therapies, however local adoption is a bottleneck. Hedera Dx has launched a comprehensive solution that allows these tests to be run in local hospital labs, bringing the tests to large patient populations. The solution has already been deployed in several European hospitals.
Liquid biopsies provide rapid, precise, non-invasive ways of assessing tumors and matching a patient with different targeted treatments. Currently, tumor tissue biopsies are considered a ‘gold standard’, however they are invasive and the process of obtaining a tissue biopsy is risky, painful and expensive. Most importantly, in up to 40% of cases, the patient can be ineligible for obtaining the biopsy or the actual biopsy can fail.
A liquid biopsy, using a simple blood draw, allows to draw insights and profile the patient’s tumor from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) found in the blood. This way hospital laboratories can efficiently acquire information about multiple sites and metastasis in one single sample. Liquid biopsies are also easily repeatable, potentially providing new options for monitoring disease progression and response to treatment through the patient journey.
The adoption of liquid biopsies could unlock the promise of transformative personalized cancer care. For example, there are over a dozen molecularly defined lung cancer entities and a wide range of possible treatments. A precise understanding of the tumor allows pathologists and clinicians to identify effective strategies and ensure that patients don’t suffer unnecessarily from the effects of interventions that are unlikely to help them.
Hedera Dx’s comprehensive solution provides a streamlined and local alternative to the handful of liquid biopsy tests that are currently on the market. The solution is called Hedera Profiling 2 ctDNA Test Panel and it integrates easily with the existing instrument infrastructure of a hospital lab. The test is built on actionability, in other words focusing on finding a potential treatment. The solution is a combination of laboratory reagents and a software platform.
First deployments
Hedera Dx’s full biopsy solution has already been deployed in hospital laboratories in France, Italy and Spain and is about to be implemented in an increasing number of laboratories in the coming months. The solution is CE-IVDR compliant. Users can validate the panel locally under CE-IVDR to be used for individual patients as a clinical diagnostics test, the company supports this option with its "Hedera Comply" program. All the customers deploying or implementing the assay right now plan to validate the solution locally.
Christian Meisel, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Hedera Dx said : “The widespread adoption of liquid biopsies in oncology will be a game-changer for patients. As a former clinician, I know firsthand how powerful the combination of routine non-invasive testing and personalized therapeutics will be for people struggling with one of the most challenging periods in their lives.”
Tommi Lehtonen, Co-Founder and CEO of Hedera Dx added: “At Hedera Dx, we believe that the best way to unleash the power of liquid biopsy is to make adoption as smooth as possible for hospitals. This means introducing several comprehensive tests, intuitive software, and helping hospitals to navigate compliance. This whole platform approach, rather than trying to capture all of the complexity with an individual test, is central to our philosophy.”
(Press release / SK)
Photo L-R: Damien Lapray (CCO), Valentin Matillon (CFO), Tommi Lehtonen (CEO), Christian Meisel (CMO)
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