NEW YORK — The University of Calgary is working with Cornell University to clinically validate a liquid biopsy test for the early detection of breast cancer with the support of approximately $2.4 million in funding from the US Department of Defense.
The test, which was CE-IVD-marked in mid-2023, measures a panel of messenger RNA biomarkers in blood using real-time PCR and machine learning. It was developed in the lab of University of Calgary researcher Kristina Rinker.
Rinker cofounded Syantra, which is commercializing the test as the Syantra Dx Breast Cancer Test, and serves as the Calgary-based company's CSO.
According to the University of Calgary, it has received roughly $893,000 from the DoD to help fund a three-year clinical study evaluating the test at six sites in the US and UK. The trial is being overseen by Cornell University's Massimo Cristofanilli, whose lab at Cornell was awarded around $1.5 million from the DoD for this work.