Hopefully there’s now <2 years to wait for those >1.5m people who are unfortunately diagnosed in the US with indeterminate lung nodules. Meaning they face further tests, risky biopsies to determine whether the nodules are cancerous & potentially unnecessary delays before treatment.
Today came news that LungLife AI (LLAI ) had achieved another major IPO milestone on time.
Enrolling its first patient in a pivotal study to validate its break-through CTC / blood-draw diagnostic (LungLB) - which in earlier trials demonstrated a best-in-class ‘Positive Predictive Value’ of 89%.
Potentially providing doctors with a much better tool to far more accurately assess whether CT-scanned patients have early-stage lung cancer.
Initial sales are targeted for 2023, after completing the 425 person, multi-centre study by Q1’23, obtaining regulatory clearance & US medical insurance cover.
Wrt size, the US market is estimated to be $2.9bn/year. Hence if ultimately LungLife AI captured say a 5% share (or revs $145m). Then on a 5x EV/sales multiple (vs peers 8x-12x), this would equate to a theoretical valuation of $725m (or £20/share)
Plus as a major endorsement of the science, LungLife AI is backed by Mount Sinai Health System (9.7% stake), alongside a “who’s who” of lung cancer experts on the science advisory board.
CEO Paul Pagano adding: "I am delighted that we remain on track with this key validation study and first patient enrolment. This is an important milestone on our journey towards the successful commercial roll-out of our blood-based diagnostic test, which we believe is set to become a driving force in the early detection of lung cancer."