Working on Commercial Kits for Early Cancer Diagnosis
JW Holdings announced on May 9 that it has obtained a patent in China on its original technique for the world’s first multi-biomarker diagnostic kit with which pancreatic cancer can be detected early through a simple blood test.
The technique is an innovative diagnostic platform allowing stage-specific examination of the cancer by simultaneous utilization of substances found in early-stage and terminal pancreatic cancer patients. Yonsei University professor Baek Yung-ku and his research team developed and transferred it two years ago.
Although there have been methods for examining the CA19-9 antigen in terminal pancreatic cancer patients, JW Holdings is currently the only company in the world that is capable of diagnosing pancreatic cancer with the complement factor B (CFB), which is found in early-stage patients. The company obtained the same patents in South Korea and Japan in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Also, the same patents have been applied for in the United States and Europe.
JW Holdings' subsidiary JW Bioscience is currently working on the multi-biomarker diagnostic kit including the CFB and a diagnostic algorithm. An exploratory clinical trial is scheduled for the second half of this year. JW Holdings said that it is going to come up with commercial kits for early diagnosis of septicaemia as well as pancreatic cancer so that increasing demands can be met.
On an average day, approximately 1,000 persons die of pancreatic cancer worldwide. In South Korea alone, about 6,600 persons get the disease each year. The five-year relative survival rate is about 11 percent, the lowest among all cancers.