The level of investment secured is substantial, at $100 million. The aim of the funding is to find a way to screen for most types of cancer using a simple blood test. This will be based on gene sequencing technology, where extracts of nucleic acid are taken and amplified.
The innovative nature of this “liquid biopsy” is not simply a pan-screening method for cancer, but one that is not invasive and which will allow for early detection of cancer in those who are not exhibiting any symptoms of the disease. Medical statistics have shown that early detection of the disease correlates with improved survival rates.
Part of the funding for the new company comes from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Silicon Valley private equity firm Sutter Hill Ventures. Each is known for backing technological developments in healthcare.
The development could bring economic success as well as a potentially big medical breakthrough. The cancer detection market is growing and it is expected to reach $100 million by 2019, which coincides with the time when Illumina hope to have the product on the market.
In related cancer research news, the Japanese company Takeda is funding a research charity called Myeloma U.K. so it can run a Phase II clinical study of a multiple myeloma treatment called Ninlaro. Myeloma is a cancer of blood plasma. Here collections of abnormal plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow, where they interfere with the production of normal blood cells. People with the condition are more prone to other types of infections, like pneumonia.
The idea is to test the effectiveness of the medication earlier. Talking with PharmaFile, Myeloma UK chief executive Eric Low noted: “For far too long there has been a lack of strategic cohesion between the policies that have been put in place at different stages of the drug development cycle, and an absence of forethought or understanding as to how one stage of the process impacts on another.”
