NEW YORK – Axim Biotechnologies plans to use an assay developed by recently acquired Sapphire Biotech as a companion diagnostic for drugs in development that inhibit quiescin sulfydryl oxidase 1 (QSOX1), a tumor-derived enzyme involved in metastasis.
Initially, San Diego-based Axim expects to launch it as a tissue-based, immunohistochemistry test in mid-2021. By early 2022, the company, which is also developing analogs to a drug it has licensed from Arizona State University, expects to market a dipstick version of the assay using plasma samples.