Oncimmune (AIM: ONC ) has today signed a commercial contract to supply its EarlyCDT Lung blood test to NHS Norfolk & Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group ("Norfolk & Waveney").

The global immunodiagnostics group said that under this commercial contract, Norfolk & Waveney will be evaluating the use of the EarlyCDT Lung blood test in a clinical setting. 

The potential success from the contract and guidance from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is anticipated to support the group’s adoption of the EarlyCDT into the clinical pathway for the early detection of lung cancer across NHS East of England.

The contract is unconstrained, albeit the evaluation is scheduled to be completed in both settings within 12 months.

The first phase of the contract, which is scheduled to start in January 2021, will focus on patients with Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules ("IPNs"). 

Meanwhile, the second phase will see the EarlyCDT Lung blood test used in a screening setting with people at risk recruited in selected GP practices in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. 

Following due diligence by the NHS, the group has been notified that NICE has selected the EarlyCDT Lung blood test for Diagnostics Assessment Guidance.The successful completion of this is expected to support wider market adoption of EarlyCDT Lung in the NHS.

Meanwhile, the company also announced this morning that it has signed a commercial contract to supply EarlyCDT Lung blood test into the NHS Lung Health Check Programmes in Wessex and Yorkshire as part of the iDx-LUNG evaluation programme.

It will supply EarlyCDT Lung blood test on commercial terms into the iDx-LUNG programme which will collect blood samples from 15,000 people attending the NHS England's Lung Health Check Programme through mobile CT scanning sites across Wessex and Yorkshire.

As well as targeting increased survival rates, one aim of the iDx-LUNG programme is to streamline the process of detecting incident lung cancers in the community and so reduce the NHS resource needed to find each new lung cancer case. 

CT scans, the current method of checking lung health, are resource-intensive and expensive, with diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer currently costing the NHS c.£307m a year.

Oncimmune said it is ‘in dialogue’ with other regional health systems in the UK for use in lung cancer diagnostic programmes, and NICE will provide further supporting evidence of the clinical utility of the test in conjunction with existing NHS delivery programmes. 

"Detecting lung cancer early is key to improving chances of survival, whether patients have a nodule or not. The body of evidence supporting the use of EarlyCDT Lung in patients at risk of lung cancer continues to build and is increasingly compelling,” said CEO, Dr Adam M Hill.

He added, “The successful publication of our co-funded Early detection of Cancer of the Lung Scotland ("ECLS") study with the NHS, which demonstrated a 36% reduction in late stage diagnosis of lung cancer which have the worst survival, has been followed by intense discussions with the NHS, leading to due diligence throughout the last six months.

As a result of those discussions, we are delighted to be working with the NHS in three regions to start the work of implementing our simple blood test into clinical care to significantly improve the chances of survival for patients with lung cancer through early detection.”

Shares in Oncimmune have traded strongly over the past two weeks between a range of 160p and 169.5 to open 0.60% higher this morning at 168.5p following the announcement.

Reason to Follow ONCI

Oncimmune Holdings’ focus is to harness the immune system’s sophisticated response to disease to detect cancer earlier and to support the development of better therapies.

The company believes the key to improving cancer survival is early detection and optimal selection for therapy. Oncimmune's immuno-diagnostic test, EarlyCDT, can detect and help identify cancer on average four years earlier than standard clinical diagnosis.

Oncimmune’s core technology also powers its ImmunoINSIGHTS service; a proprietary platform that enables life-science organisations to optimise drug development and delivery, leading to more effective, targeted as well as safer treatments for patients.

The company’s EarlyCDT Lung blood test was previously featured on an ITV news broadcast last weekend titled ‘New Blood Test Provides Breakthrough in Lung Cancer Detection Rates’. 

The feature highlighted that, in the UK, more than 35,000 people die of lung cancer each year and most have their lung cancer diagnosed late thereby lowering their chances of survival. 80% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in the latest stages of the disease. 

The EarlyCDT test works to identify the immune system's response to the presence of lung cancer. The test detects antibodies present in the body, enabling clinicians to focus their diagnosis on identifying the disease and treating it earlier than current clinical practice. 

It has previously been shown that Oncimmune’s EarlyCDT Lung blood test can detect lung cancer on average four years before standard of care and has shown in a large National Health Service (NHS) trial that it can reduce late stage lung cancer presentation by 36%.  

“We are delighted that Oncimmune's EarlyCDT Lung blood test has received such international publicity,” said Adam M Hill, Chief Executive of Oncimmune. 

He added, “The benefits of offering patients the opportunity to identify lung cancer early are clear - early detection of this disease saves lives. We are actively engaged across the NHS to bring the blood test to clinicians and patients." 

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