Biodesix, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Oncimmune's U.S. Operations and Laboratory to Strategically Enhance Its Lung Cancer Diagnostic Portfolio

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned from foreign media that on June 28, 2019, Biodesix, Inc., a company providing lung cancer diagnostic solutions, announced the acquisition of Oncimmune’s U.S. laboratory and its incidental pulmonary nodule malignancy testing services. Oncimmune is a developer of cancer-specific immunoassays. This move aims to expand Biodesix’s portfolio of blood-based lung cancer diagnostic products. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Oncimmune’s U.S. operations, including its CLIA-certified laboratory, will transition to Biodesix on November 1, 2019. The laboratory is the sole provider of the EarlyCDT-Lung test technology.

David Brunel, CEO of Biodesix, stated, “Oncimmune’s extensive experience and patent portfolio in autoantibodies attracted us to evaluate its EarlyCDT-Lung test technology. We aim for the EarlyCDT-Lung test to serve as a strategic complement to our diagnostic test offerings. As a leader in blood-based diagnostic solutions for lung cancer, Biodesix offers the Nodify XL2 test, which helps rule out malignancy in incidental pulmonary nodules with low-to-moderate risk. EarlyCDT-Lung is a routine test for assessing lung cancer risk, providing significant support to our efforts in advancing early-stage disease management.”

Each year, 1.6 million Americans are diagnosed with incidental pulmonary nodules. Most of these nodules are benign, and the EarlyCDT-Lung test helps identify those that may be malignant. This blood-based test for pulmonary nodules enables clinicians to detect lung cancer at all stages of the disease, facilitating early intervention.

“Adding EarlyCDT Lung to the Biodesix portfolio will enable more patients to benefit from this unique diagnostic tool,” said Scott Hutton, Chief Operating Officer of Biodesix. “The Nodify XL2 and EarlyCDT Lung tests are complementary, helping physicians stratify patient management.”

Adam M. Hill, MD, CEO of Oncimmune, stated, “This agreement represents a significant milestone for Oncimmune. Like us, Biodesix is committed to developing and delivering lung cancer diagnostic solutions to improve patient outcomes. EarlyCDT-Lung serves as a strong complement to Nodify XL2 and can help guide treatment decisions. We believe Biodesix is an excellent partner for Oncimmune in the U.S. market.”

The additional terms of the agreement stipulate that Biodesix will make milestone payments to Oncimmune upon the achievement of certain commercial objectives. Furthermore, Oncimmune will continue to collaborate with Biodesix to jointly develop new strategies aimed at improving outcomes for lung cancer patients.

Biodesix is a lung cancer diagnostic solutions company dedicated to providing continuous care, from the early diagnosis of pulmonary nodules to advanced-stage cancer. By combining blood tests with artificial intelligence, the company has developed diagnostic assays that address critical clinical challenges. Biodesix is the first company to offer multiple tests for patients with lung diseases and maintains a diverse pipeline of assay developments. Additionally, Biodesix collaborates with world-leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to tackle complex diagnostic issues.

Oncimmune is a leader in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of cancer-specific immune diagnostics, providing services for cancer screening, detection, and care. Oncimmune also develops precision medicine and patient stratification tools for pharmaceutical companies in the fields of autoimmune diseases and immuno-oncology. Committed to transforming the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, Oncimmune’s proprietary technology detects the body’s natural immune response to cancer, enabling the identification of relevant patient symptoms up to four years or more before standard clinical diagnosis. Oncimmune’s tests support clinical decision-making and serve as a complement to existing diagnostic technologies. By partnering with leading developers and distributors, Oncimmune ensures the global availability of its technology.

Oncimmune was founded in 2002 and launched its diagnostic technologies, EarlyCDT-Lung and EarlyCDT®-Liver, in 2009, followed by its first commercial testing. To date, the technology has been used to perform over 155,000 tests for patients worldwide. EarlyCDT-Lung has also been utilized in randomized controlled trials.

Oncimmune is headquartered in Nottingham, UK, with a discovery research center in Dortmund, Germany, and a CLIA-certified laboratory in Kansas, USA. Oncimmune joined the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in May 2016.

(Compiled by Zhang Jing)