NEW YORK (360Dx) – The European Union's Horizon 2020 program has awarded a €2.35 million ($2.7 million) grant for small- and medium-sized enterprises to Stockholm-based Elypta, which is developing a metabolism-based liquid biopsy platform for the detection and monitoring of cancers.
Elypta said it will use the Horizon 2020 Phase II grant to fund a multicenter trial aimed at validating its metabolism-based liquid biopsy platform for early detection of recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer.
Its method involves measuring a panel of metabolites whose composition has been found to be altered in the blood and urine of cancer patients, allowing identification of distinct signatures using machine learning. These signatures or biomarkers are exceptionally sensitive and can be identified for a variety of cancers, the firm said.
"In order to find recurring RCC earlier, we believe more convenient and safe tests such as liquid biopsies are needed," said Saeed Dabestani, a urologic surgeon from Lund University and senior associate of the European Association of Urology Guidelines Panel for Renal Cell Carcinoma, in a statement. "This would allow for a better selection and closer follow-up of patients, aiming for more curative treatments offered or prolonging life in those who do recur."
Elypta CEO Karl Bergman added that the "grant also allows us to start growing the Elypta team to deliver on our plan and commitment to the EU."
In the coming years, the firm anticipates initiating additional trials involving cancer patients and raising more capital "to fully address the opportunities" it sees, Bergman said.
Elypta anticipates launching the RCC test in Europe and the US.