Prostate cancer diagnostics company MDxHealth announced it’ll acquire Netherlands-based liquid biopsy testmaker NovioGendix for $8.8 million.
NovioGendix has developed a prostate cancer liquid biopsy test, for which it holds a CE Mark. The urine-based test will be launched in the U.S. next year under the name SelectMDx.
About 1.3 million biopsies are conducted each year to diagnose prostate cancer – but only about 240,000 men have the cancer, indicating that the majority of these tests are excessive. The test aims to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies among men who do not have cancer, as well as determine who has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
The Irvine, California-based MDxHealth has a prostate cancer test called ConfirmMDx that already works to identify which patients require further biopsy examination for prostate cancer, and who doesn’t.
Liquid biopsy testing is emerging as a promising alternative to standard biopsy, which is invasive and time-consuming. With a simple urine or blood sample, the testing captures data on circulating tumor DNA, and determines whether a person has cancer. The San Diego-based Pathway Genomics, for instance, just released a liquid biopsy test that determines whether patients with a high risk for cancer are actually ill.
MDxHealth told Reuters that the market segment for urine-based prostate cancer liquid biopsy is worth about $600 million. The company will also launch a urine-based test for bladder cancer next year, and aims to command a market worth $2.75 billion.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
