Andrew Newland and his team at Angle have accomplished something unique for a small-cap healthcare company: they have developed a cancer diagnostic technology from first principles and brought it to the brink of commercial success.
A recent fundraising effort that added £9.3m to the coffers is expected to help the company reach cash flow breakeven by the end of next year.
This success is supported by three agreements with two major pharmaceutical companies, giving Angle three opportunities to generate significant revenue as the contracts progress through the trial stages.
It has partnered with AstraZeneca and Japan’s Eisai, both of which are essentially funding the product development phase for cancer trials.
Achievement: Healthcare company Angle has developed cancer diagnostic technology from its first principles and brought it to the brink of commercial success.
Deeper Dive
Angle is the inventor of Parsortix, a liquid biopsy technology that has received FDA approval for use in breast cancer – the first and only device of its kind to achieve this for its intended use.
Parsortix captures circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a single blood draw, recovering live, intact cancer cells.
This is crucial to understanding and treating the disease, as these CTCs are involved in the spread of cancer.
By capturing the cells involved in metastasis, Parsortix enables a detailed analysis of the current state of the disease.
Researchers can examine DNA, RNA, protein expression, and cell morphology, providing a comprehensive understanding that can be repeated as many times as needed, which is impossible with traditional methods.
In contrast, standard cancer diagnostics rely on tissue biopsies, which are invasive and quickly become outdated because they cannot be easily repeated.
After surgeries such as mastectomies, there are no cells left to analyze for ongoing monitoring.
Advantages of Parsortix
This is a major drawback, as cancer evolves over time and understanding its current state is crucial for effective treatment.
The liquid biopsy industry has so far focused on the analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from blood samples.
However, ctDNA is made up of fragments of dead cancer cells mixed with other cellular debris, which provides only limited information about DNA. It is not possible to assess RNA, proteins or cell morphology.
In summary, this ctDNA material does not provide critical information for a complete understanding of cancer behavior.
Furthermore, studies indicate that ctDNA may be present in individuals without active cancer, complicating interpretation.
“You can’t get a complete picture of cancer progression if you start with a partial sample of dead cell fragments,” says CEO Newland.
Advanced analysis
Angle is enhancing its cancer testing capabilities by developing protein-related assays critical to targeting specific drugs.
The company is currently working on trials for HER2 in breast cancer and DNA damage response in multiple cancers and has begun developing a test for prostate cancer receptors.
The HER2 assay will be a critical component in the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), highly specific treatments that bind to cancer cells and deliver their therapeutic payload, while minimizing side effects.
Partner Eisai has committed $2 billion to develop next-generation HER2 ADC therapies. As part of a pilot study, Angle will receive $250,000 to evaluate its assay measuring HER2 expression to identify patients who will benefit from the treatment.
Follow-up studies
This initial success could lead to multiple large-scale follow-up studies, generating significant revenue as drug candidates progress through clinical trials.
Angle’s first of two collaborations with AstraZeneca focuses on DNA damage response (DDR).
Cancer cells are capable of repairing themselves, so a whole new generation of treatments is being developed to block the repair pathway and tackle the disease.
And Angle is lending its support to this initiative. Under the £150,000 agreement with AZ, Angle is upgrading its existing DDR assay to include the assessment of CTC micronuclei.
A second agreement with AstraZeneca involves the development of an androgen receptor (AR) detection assay for prostate cancer studies, valued at £550,000.
Financial savings
The financial impact of using assays to guide clinical trials is significant, given the $1.5 billion cost of developing new drugs.
Optimizing the process or reducing the failure rate can save tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.
“There is a huge financial push for (big pharmaceutical companies) to go down this path (of testing), it will save them a lot of money and make their drugs much more effective,” says Newland.
The deals with AstraZeneca and Esai are just the beginning. Angle is in talks with 11 new potential clients, including six major pharmaceutical companies, Newland reveals.
For now, Angle is focused on successfully developing its trials for its two main clients.
Analysts estimate that success could pave the way for phase II clinical trials, potentially generating between £1.2m and £3.6m per trial.
The figures rise to between £15m and £45m for a phase III clinical trial and could reach up to £100m a year if a companion diagnostic is approved, City figures suggest.
The opportunity for Angle is significant and supports the expectation of reaching cash breakeven next year as cash burn reduces to around £1m per month.
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