The U.K. government created a new £21 million ($US26.55 million) fund to accelerate the roll out of artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics and treatment tools across the NHS. The AI Diagnostic Fund will enable hospitals to bid for funding to speed up the deployment of the most promising AI imaging and decision support tools to help patients with cancers, strokes and heart conditions.
Carthera SA raised €37.5 million (US$40 million) in a series B funding round that will allow the company to embark on the first pivotal trial of its Sonocloud technology. The Sonocloud-9 is the only implantable ultrasound device that can repeatedly open the blood-brain barrier and deliver effective treatment in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, Frédéric Sottilini, CEO of Carthera, told BioWorld.
The imaging and advanced guidance for workflow optimization in interventional oncology consortium (IMAGIO) consortium of clinical partners in the EU, led by Royal Philips NV, has been awarded $26 million under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) to carry out research into less invasive cancer therapies.
The near $50 million cash injection Nvision Imaging Technologies GmbH recently received is “instrumental” as it will allow the company to take its hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to labs worldwide, CEO Sella Brosh told BioWorld. The German startup’s quantum technology makes MRI imaging up to 100,000 times more precise which will allow for the earlier diagnosis of cancer, better assessment of the risks involved and the ability to assess in a matter of days, whether treatment is working.
Breakthroughs in early detection of cancer offer increasing hope for better outcomes and longer lives for individuals affected by malignancies. This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting highlighted strong results from several companies at the forefront of this potential transformation.
In the flurry of presentations on early detection of cancer at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Grail LLC stood out for the number of sessions and the strength of its results. In a real-world study presented, Grail’s Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test cancer signal origin (CSO) demonstrated accuracy of 91%.
Creo Medical Group plc says it is poised to address the mismatch between the advances in screening technology, which are making it possible to detect early-stage lung cancer, and the current invasive and inappropriate methods of treating it, following the first-in-human use of its Microblate Flex microwave ablation device.
The 2023 American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting featured several notable developments on the diagnostics side, including significant advances in multi-cancer early detection (MCED). Grail Inc. presented its results from SYMPLIFY, the first major study of its MCED test in symptomatic patients. The test showed a negative predictive value of more than 97% and a positive predictive value that exceeded 75% in individuals who presented to primary care with non-specific symptoms that prompted a referral for cancer evaluation.
A study of more than a thousand tumor samples, led by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, gives valuable insight into the different gene expression patterns seen in different cancers. The new findings could help address challenges associated with targeting many types of tumors, which are hard to treat in large part due to the variable nature of their cells and gene expression patterns, by helping to create better targeted therapeutics.
A cancer therapy test unveiled by Exact Sciences Corp. will be able to provide a complete molecular picture of a patient’s tumor allowing for them to receive the most effective treatment as quickly as possible. Exact’s Oncoextra therapy selection test, recently launched in the U.S., enhances the ability of doctors to characterize and understand solid tumors.