Abcodia Raises $8M to Launch Ovarian Cancer Screening Test
Abcodia, a British biotech firm working on finding and validating biomarkers for early disease detection, announced this week it raised $8 million to bring its ovarian cancer screening test called ROCA to market.
The company’s news release touted the assay as “the world’s most sensitive and specific ovarian cancer screening test.”
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology elaborates on ROCA’s potency. Researchers tasked with this experiment opted to explore how cancer detection could work if the screening focused on an ongoing change in biomarkers versus traditional screening methods, which target a single-biomarker change to pinpoint mutations.
The ROCA test utilizes a risk algorithm combined with a serum that marks the ovarian cancer protein CA-125. Abcodia’s product was able to find twice as many ovarian cancers compared to the regular CA-125 testing tools, according to GenomeWeb.
READ MORE: Personalized Screening Test for Ovarian Cancer Shows Encouraging Results
Funding came from four sources: new investors Cambridge Innovative Capital (CIC) and Scottish Equity Partners and existing ones Albion Ventures and UCL Business.
Investment Director for CIC Dr. Robert Tansley said in a statement why he invested in Abcodia: “The major unmet need in early detection of ovarian cancer and the unprecedented clinical validation behind the ROCA test provided a compelling body of evidence for CIC's investment. We are excited to support this groundbreaking test and bring it to the market so women around the world can feel empowered with more knowledge and more options.”
ROCA will officially be released in the U.S. and U.K. later this year.
