On September 17, 2019 VolitionRx Limited (NYSE AMERICAN: VNRX) ("Volition") reported a significant milestone in its Nu.QTM Capture development program: the ability to enrich nucleosomes, and therefore, DNA of tumor versus non-tumor origin (Press release, VolitionRX, SEP 17, 2019, View Source [SID1234539597]). This breakthrough could be used in two ways, firstly to increase specificity in Volition’s current assays by removing the background signal and secondly, as an enabling technology in sequencing-based liquid biopsies by enriching nucleosomes of cancer origin from the blood.
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Dr. Mark Eccleston, one of the founding Scientists and the Business Development Director at Volition commented, "I am extremely excited that this enabling technology could bridge the gap between Volition’s epigenetic profiling approach to early detection and those sequencing approaches that have so far been limited to personalized treatment selection. The recent results could impact the entire sector and highlight Volition as a leader in the field of Clinical epigenetics. The next step in our Nu.QTM Capture development work, which is underway and will be reported in the coming months, is to determine the level of discrimination of tumor-derived nucleosomes using mass spectrometry, immunoassay and sequencing to provide a complete analysis of cell-free nucleosomes."
Dr. Jake Micallef, Chief Scientific Officer at Volition added, "Volition is focused on advancing the science of epigenetics and has developed an extensive understanding of chromosome and nucleosome structures, particularly in blood. I believe all the work we have done over the past 9 years, including what I believe should be a breakthrough patent we filed last week with the aim of securing Nu.QTM Capture intellectual property, puts us at the cutting edge of epigenetics."
Volition is currently developing Nu.QTM products that can detect cancer by measuring circulating nucleosomes in the blood by low-cost immunoassay. In addition to these diagnostic products, Volition, through its Nu.QTM Capture platform, has developed the ability to enrich nucleosomes of cancer origin from the blood which will be valuable for wider profiling approaches such as mass spectrometry (for target discovery) and simplification of sequencing approaches, opening up the potential for its Nu.Q-Seq approach as well as partnering/licensing opportunities.