NEW YORK (360Dx) — Sienna Cancer Diagnostics said today that it has signed an agreement to evaluate its cancer hTERT in vitro diagnostic in thyroid cancer in collaboration with the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) in Australia.
The test detects the hTERT component of telomerase, a biomarker that the company said is upregulated in about 85 percent of tissue-based cancers. Sienna currently markets the test as an aid in bladder cancer diagnosis alongside standard urine cytology testing.
Under the terms of the deal, Sienna and RHM will run the test on fine needle aspirate thyroid biopsies with matched thyroid nodules after removal in order to determine whether it can accurately differentiate benign nodules from cancerous ones. The study will be conducted at RHM.
"We are looking forward to commencing this proof-of-concept study which, if successful, would allow us to follow on with a more extensive thyroid clinical study, while in parallel continuing to research other opportunities to expand our hTERT market," Sienna CEO Matthew Hoskin said in a statement.
Earlier this month Melbourne, Australia-based Sienna reached a deal making Shaanxi GaoYuan In Vitro Diagnostic Reagents its exclusive distribution partner in mainland China.