NEW YORK – AccuStem Sciences said Wednesday that it has entered into a development agreement with researchers in Italy to obtain access to blood samples from the multi-institutional, prospective, randomized Rete Italiana di Screening Polmonare (RISP) clinical trial.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
The study is currently enrolling patients across a clinical network of 18 centers in Italy. AccuStem aims to use their samples for lung cancer screening to demonstrate the impact of its MicroRNA Signature Classifier (MSC) test. It plans to commercialize the assay in the US in 2026.
"Access to our collaborators' expertise and support will help us … expedite integration of this novel technology as a standard of care that improves the accuracy of lung cancer screening," AccuStem CEO Wendy Blosser said in a statement.
The company's MSC test detects 24 microRNA targets in plasma samples from patients diagnosed with lung nodules and is intended as an adjunct to improve the efficiency and efficacy of currently available imaging-based lung cancer screening. The test has already been validated in more than 5,000 patients in multiple prospective trials.