A multi-cancer screening platform for fast and accurate early stage cancer detection from urine samples

Project Information

Cancersensing

Grant agreement ID: 882365

DOI

10.3030/882365

Project closed

EC signature date 29 November 2019

Start date 1 November 2019

End date 29 February 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

MDB DIAGNOSIS GROUP LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Cancersensing (A multi-cancer screening platform for fast and accurate early stage cancer detection from urine samples)

Reporting period: 2019-11-01 to 2020-02-29

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MDB Diagnosis (MDBD) is a UK-based Company founded in 2018 with the goal of making available to society a universal test to be used as a tool in large-population screening for early diagnosis of all cancer types. MDBD developed Cancersensing, a unique cancer screening platform capable of detecting multiple types of cancer simultaneously by exploiting a single urine sample. Thanks to its unique sensitivity and specificity, and its cost-effectiveness, Cancersensing is an ideal tool for cancer screening aimed at detecting the disease before symptoms arise. The team is now working towards the optimisation of the platform to enable its application for large population cancer screening application. Key objectives of the development are 1) design and validate a kit for standardizing sample processing and 2) enable cloud-accessibility to the analysis software to empower every diagnostic lab to perform the test; 3) expand the range of types of cancers detected by the test 3) validate the whole platform on a large scale and 4) obtaining CE mark certification for commercialization in Europe.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Throughout the duration of the feasibility assessment, MDBD defined the customer&users’ requirements for the Cancersensing platform, reviewed the product development plan, defined the scale-up activities, and scouted for key stakeholders to support in the in-field validation. The market segments and opportunities have also been evaluated, defining the TAM and SAM, and a commercialisation strategy has been established. The Phase 1 feasibility assessment showed a compelling opportunity for the project, confirming the technical and commercial viability of Cancersensing. The EIC Accelerator Phase 2 funding could provide the needed amount of funding and support for the successful implementation of the planned activities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In 2020, there will be over 10 million cancer deaths. Since late diagnosis is the major factor associated with cancer mortality, many of these million lives could have been prevented with efficient and comprehensive screening programs enabling early detection of cancer. Cancersensing detects the most common cancer types with a simple, inexpensive urine test that can be implemented within routine annual check-up visits, enabling large comprehensive cancer screening programs for everyone.
Beyond the societal burden, cancer generates a global economic burden exceeding €1.07 trillion annually (due to treatment costs as well as the cost of premature death and disability). A large fraction of this huge cost could be prevented with effective screening strategies and reallocated for the benefit of everyone. Such figures are further exacerbated by the fact that a 70% increase in cancer incidence is anticipated over the next couple of decades, mainly due to the global rise in the geriatric population (anticipated to nearly double from 12% to 22% by 2022 only).

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