UK liquid biopsy company Angle has entered an agreement with US-based biotech NuProbe for the use of its next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel.
The agreement grants Angle the exclusive global use (outside of China) of NuProbe’s NGS panel which the company claims can detect more than 6,500 DNA mutations in 61 clinically relevant genes.
Angle will use the panel for the analysis of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and the dual analysis of CTCs and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) – a move anticipated to accelerate efforts to commercialise its first pan-cancer molecular sequencing assay.
Angle has already completed a pilot study of the pan-cancer panel and shared results at the 2024 European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) meeting in June.
The pilot study evaluated CTC DNA and ctDNA in blood samples from breast, lung, and ovarian cancer patients, finding that in each cancer type, more mutations were identified in CTCs compared to ctDNA analysis alone, highlighting the potential value of profiling CTCs in addition to ctDNA.
Angle CEO Andrew Newland stated that with its Parsortix system – a technology that captures and harvests CTCs in the blood before downstream analysis – the company is well-positioned to use a pan-cancer gene panel across 61 oncogenes and thousands of mutations.
Angle’s chief scientific officer Karen Miller commented: “We are pleased to sign an agreement with NuProbe which will support our ongoing development of highly sensitive and specific molecular assays using CTCs harvested using the Parsortix system together with ctDNA from a single blood sample.
“Dual analysis of CTCs and ctDNA can provide additional and complementary information which will provide pharma services customers with unparalleled and repeatable insights into a range of cancers, and in the longer-term provide clinicians with the potential for continual optimisation of personalised cancer treatment plans."
According to NuProbe, its NGS panel was the highest-performing multi-gene assay of those evaluated by Angle. The initial stages of the new agreement will see NuProbe transfer the manufacture of its NGS panel to a larger site, with Angle set to undertake internal validation of the initial batches.
In April 2024, Angle was granted a European patent for its CellKeep slide to improve the capture of CTCs. The following month, the company entered a supplier agreement with AstraZeneca to develop a prostate cancer assay.
A report by GlobalData valued the NGS market at $1.9bn in 2023. There are currently 127 NGS devices in active stages of development globally and the market is forecast to reach a valuation of $5.1bn by 2033.
