BioMark Diagnostics to Conduct Validation Studies for Its Patented Assays in Patients With Lung Cancer
22 September 2015 - 10:46AM
BioMark Diagnostics Inc. ("BioMark") (CSE:BUX) (FSE:20B)
(OTCQB:BMKDF) announces that it expects to begin conducting studies
in the fourth quarter of 2015 to validate the use of its patented
assays to determine response to surgical intervention for patients
with lung cancer, and to further offer a personalized and reliable
indicator to monitor persistence, recurrence, or state of a tumour.
Dr. James Bond, Chief of Surrey Memorial Hospital Thoracic Surgery
Team, along with the entire thoracic surgical division of Fraser
Health Authority that includes Drs. Ahmad Ashrafi, Sharon Ong, and
Kyle Grant, will serve as principal investigator for this formative
clinical validation study entitled "The use of BioMark's Acetyl
Amantadine patented technology to assess surgical intervention for
lung cancer." Fraser Health Authority is one of the
largest, fastest growing health care authorities in Canada serving
a population of 1.8 million encompassing 12 regional hospitals.
It has the largest and busiest thoracic surgery program in
British Columbia. In addition, Dr. Daniel Sitar of CancerCare
Manitoba will also act as co-principal investigator.
President and CEO of BioMark Rashid Ahmed stated, "Lung cancer
is the most devastating cancer with very low five-year survival
rates. Having access to an effective, non-invasive means of
assessing and monitoring this cancer would be highly beneficial for
this group of patients. We believe that our assay could offer a
valuable diagnostic tool for surgical oncologists to assess the
clinical success and potential recurrence of cancer. We are
honored to have Dr. Bond and the distinguished team at Surrey
Memorial Hospital working with us. We expect to begin this
trial in the fourth quarter of 2015, subject to ethics approval
from Fraser Health Authority."
Dr. Bond says, "At present, we have numerous diagnostic
modalities to facilitate the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer.
Each of these current modalities is expensive, at risk of false
negative results (that is, will miss a cancer diagnosis), has long
waitlists to gain access to these tests and, in the end, requires a
specialist (thoracic surgeon) to put all the details together to
then plan for treatment. Surgery is still the most important part
of cancer cure therapies. Under our current paradigm of care, an
interventional procedure is most often used to acquire tissue to
confirm a diagnosis. This might mean a bronchoscopy or a lung
biopsy performed in the radiology department. As lung biopsies are
frequently non-diagnostic, as are bronchoscopies, many of these
tests serve to delay definitive treatment while also costing the
health care system an immense amount of money for results that are
not helpful.
"A urine or blood test used to diagnose lung cancer, and then
used again to monitor for recurrence after treatment, has the
potential to radically change how we diagnose, and then treat, lung
cancer. A urine or blood test will be substantially faster, saving
weeks or even months searching for a diagnosis. It will expedite
referral to a surgeon or other specialists directly from the
general practitioner after a positive blood test. This will result
in faster access to curative treatments. As a urine or blood test
will have significantly lower costs and without the risk of
complications of other tests such as bronchoscopies and lung
biopsies, the health care system can redirect those savings where
they might be more needed.
"Simply put, a urine or blood test for lung cancer will save
lives, will save time, and will save health care dollars. The need
for such technologies cannot be overstated. This is an important
study with far-reaching implications for lung cancer and other
cancers as well," added Dr. Bond.
About Dr. James Bond
Dr. Bond is a healthcare innovator with a track record of
overcoming inertia and streamlining processes. At Surrey Memorial
Hospital, he has led a Rapid Autopilot Program (RAP) to speed up
lung cancer wait times from an average of 190 days to 45 days. When
a patient receives abnormal lung imaging, he/she is immediately
appointed a nurse navigator, who is responsible for planning
his/her care and sending imaging to the surgeon for his insight.
Dr. Bond is an innovative thoracic surgeon, who has led the
adoption of the MATRIX thoracic surgical procedure and created a
comprehensive program of care at Surrey Memorial Hospital that is
the only one of its kind in Canada. The innovative surgery improves
survival rates, reduces lengthy hospital stays and improves
long-term outcomes by mitigating chronic pain and breathlessness.
Dr. Bond currently trains other doctors in North America on the
procedure.
About BioMark Diagnostics Inc.
BioMark Diagnostics is developing proprietary, non-invasive, and
accurate cancer diagnostic solutions, which can help detect,
monitor and assess treatment for cancer early and cost effectively.
The technology can also be used for measuring response to treatment
and potentially for serial monitoring for cancer survivors.
Further information about BioMark Diagnostics is available under
its profile on the SEDAR website www.sedar.com and on the CSE
website www.thecse.ca.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may include forward-looking information
within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning
the business of BioMark. Forward-looking information is based
on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management
of BioMark. Although BioMark believes that the expectations and
assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the
forward-looking information because BioMark can give no assurance
that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are made as of the date of this
press release. BioMark disclaims any intent or obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of
new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than
as required by applicable securities laws.
The CSE has not reviewed, approved or
disapproved the content of this press release.
CONTACT: Company Contact
Rashid Ahmed Bux
President & CEO
BioMark Diagnostics Inc.
604-282-6567
info@biomarkdiagnostics.com
Investor Contact
LHA
Jody Cain
310-691-7100
Jcain@lhai.com
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