Cleveland Diagnostics Announces Publication of Real-World Study Demonstrating the Clinical Utility of IsoPSA® for Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment

On February 23, 2022 Cleveland Diagnostics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancers, reported the publication of a large real-world clinical utility study in Urology Practice, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Urological Association (Press release, Cleveland Diagnostics, FEB 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234608908]). The study, led by Dr. Eric Klein, Emeritus Professor and Chair of the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, found that the use of IsoPSA led to significant provider behavior modification and a 55 percent net reduction in prostate biopsy recommendations.

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In the study, a diverse set of 38 providers from both community-based practices and academic locations within the Cleveland Clinic health system enrolled 900 men being evaluated for prostate cancer, readily adopted IsoPSA, and utilized IsoPSA results in their patient management decisions. IsoPSA results led to physicians changing their initial biopsy and MRI recommendations in two-thirds of the cases. In addition to the 55 percent reduction in biopsy recommendations subsequent to the test, IsoPSA also demonstrated both confirmatory and discriminatory power, most notably that providers changed their pre-test ‘biopsy’ recommendations to ‘no biopsy’ recommendations in 90 percent of the cases following receipt of patient IsoPSA results below the test’s threshold value.

"Caregivers are seeking better tools to help them determine with confidence which of their patients should or should not go on to biopsy," said Dr. Mark Stovsky, Chief Medical Officer at Cleveland Diagnostics. "We expect that IsoPSA, our novel blood-based prostate cancer test, may fundamentally shift the diagnostic paradigm of prostate cancer, and improve patient care and outcomes."

"We’re very pleased that providers are not only willing to insert IsoPSA into their current diagnostic workflow, but also change their behavior based on the test results," said Arnon Chait, Chief Executive Officer at Cleveland Diagnostics. "Given the significant reduction in biopsy recommendations observed in this real-world study, the downstream savings to Medicare and commercial payors, and ultimately, the clinical benefits to patients are expected to be substantial."

It is estimated that $4B is spent in the U.S. each year on unnecessary prostate biopsies. Given the results of this real-world study and previously published clinical validation and cost effectiveness studies, Cleveland Diagnostics believes that IsoPSA will reduce significantly the number of unnecessary procedures, thereby improving patient care while producing significant cost savings for the health care system.

About IsoPSA

IsoPSA is a non-invasive, blood-based test that demonstrated in a large, multicenter study superior diagnostic accuracy compared to prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the current standard of care in prostate cancer diagnosis. Cleveland Diagnostics currently offers IsoPSA as a laboratory-developed test (LDT) conducted at its high-complexity, CLIA-certified, CAP- accredited laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio.

Forma Therapeutics to Report Fourth Quarter and Year-end 2021 Financial Results and Provide Business Update on March 1, 2022

On February 23, 2022 Forma Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on sickle cell disease, prostate cancer and other rare hematologic diseases and cancers, reported that it will release fourth quarter and year-end 2021 financial results Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (Press release, Forma Therapeutics, FEB 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234608907]). Forma management will host an investment community conference call at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), on March 1, 2022 to discuss these financial results and provide a business update.

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Investors may participate by dialing (833) 301-1146 in the U.S. or Canada, or (914) 987-7386 internationally, and by referring to Conference ID 3322907. A live webcast of the conference call will be available in the "News & Investors" section of Forma’s website at www.formatherapeutics.com.

4D pharma to Participate at the Chardan Metagenomics and Microbiome Medicines Summit

On February 23, 2022 4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD, NASDAQ: LBPS), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs), a novel class of drug derived from the microbiome, reported that Duncan Peyton, Chief Executive Officer, and Alex Stevenson, Chief Scientific Officer of 4D pharma, will participate in a fireside chat at the Chardan Metagenomics and Microbiome Medicines Summit on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. ET (2:00 p.m. GMT) (Press release, 4d Pharma, FEB 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234608906]).

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A webcast of the fireside chat will be available via the ‘Events’ section of the 4D pharma website at www.4dpharmaplc.com and will be available to replay for 90 days following the presentation.

NanoString Expands Partnership with Leica Biosystems to Accelerate Spatial Discoveries with Automated Workflow

On February 23, 2022 NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, reported the release of a fully automated GeoMx RNA protocol on BOND RX research staining systems through an expanded partnership with Leica Biosystems (Press release, NanoString Technologies, FEB 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234608904]). The new, improved RNA protocol offers whole transcriptome profiling of Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE), fixed frozen, or fresh frozen tissue, ultimately improving reproducibility and throughput, minimizing manual steps, and reducing hands-on time.

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"This fully automated protocol not only increased our ability to get more slides done in a week but also increased the quality of the data coming off of our instrument by reducing variability between runs," said Carlee Hemphill, formerly a lead scientist with Labcorp, a beta site for the automated workflow, now senior manager, Translational and R&D Services, PathAI.

The GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) combines standard immunofluorescence techniques with digital barcoding technology to perform highly multiplexed, spatially resolved multi-omic profiling studies. The BOND RX staining solution offers investigators an open platform to develop customized protocols for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and In Situ Hybridization (ISH) with open reagents and detection options. The new protocol creates a fully automated GeoMx DSP workflow allowing researchers to quickly see the biological complexity of heterogeneous tissues using GeoMx DSP’s combination of tissue morphological context and high-plex, whole transcriptome RNA expression profiling from a single slide.

"We’re excited to have the Leica workflow as part of our spatial biology ecosystem," said Vice President of Marketing for NanoString, Anna Berdine. "Enabling full automation facilitates translational and multi-sample studies by improving reproducibility and decreasing the hands-on time down to less than one hour, freeing up researchers to focus more of their time on generating insights from their data."

To learn more about NanoString’s GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler, visit View Source

New Research Shows Progression to Esophageal Cancer as Detected by WATS3D

On February 23, 2022 CDx Diagnostics reported A newly published study as lead article in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy shows that Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and dysplasia progress to esophageal cancer at similar, or even higher, rates when diagnosed by WATS3D (wide-area transepithelial sampling with three-dimensional analysis) as they do when diagnosed by conventional forceps biopsies (Press release, CDx Diagnostics, FEB 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234608903]).

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This study titled "Progression of Barrett’s esophagus, crypt dysplasia, and low-grade dysplasia diagnosed by wide-area transepithelial sampling with 3-dimensional computer-assisted analysis: a retrospective analysis," was authored by Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH, Michael S. Smith, MD, MBA and Robert D. Odze, MD, FRCPc. It evaluated 4,545 BE patients and illustrated that patients with baseline non-dysplastic BE progressed to either high-grade dysplasia or cancer at a rate of 0.08%/patient-year (95% confidence intervals (CI), 0.02%-0.14%). Progression of BE patients with baseline crypt dysplasia was significantly higher, at 1.42%/patient-year (95% CI, 0%-3.01%) and progression from baseline low-grade dysplasia was the highest, at 5.79%/patient-year (95% CI, 1.02%-10.55%).

"This publication shows for the first time that WATS3D helps to detect clinically-significant pathologic lesions and provides insight into the progression rates of BE and dysplasia to cancer," said Bill Huffnagle, CEO of CDx Diagnostics. "By improving detection of BE and dysplasia, WATS3D can help clinicians treat their patients and prevent cancer development."

WATS3D is a diagnostic platform developed by CDx Diagnostics for the detection of BE and its associated neoplastic conditions. This platform helps clinicians overcome the well-known limitations associated with traditional upper endoscopic methods of screening and surveillance for BE. WATS3D utilizes advanced tissue sampling, 3D imaging technology and an Artificial Intelligence neural network to more accurately and reliably identify BE and dysplasia. WATS3D diagnoses are then made by a highly specialized team of WATS3D trained pathologists.

In other multicenter clinical studies, WATS3D has been found to significantly increase the detection rate of BE and dysplasia, both of which are treatable precursors to esophageal cancer, one of the fastest growing and most fatal cancers in the United States.

WATS3D is included in the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) Guideline for the screening and surveillance of BE. It is also recognized by several other GI societies for the detection of BE and dysplasia, including the American Foregut Society (AFS) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).