Cytogen is showing strong performance. This is interpreted as being influenced by the news that it will supply its liquid biopsy platform to Weill Cornell Medicine in the United States.
As of 12:13 PM on the 5th, Cytogen is trading at 13,310 KRW, up 2.78% from the previous day.
Following a contract signed last month to supply its liquid biopsy platform to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Cytogen announced on the 5th that it will supply the liquid biopsy platform to Weill Cornell Medicine.
This supply was made possible after the Myeloma Center at Weill Cornell Medicine proposed a research proposal to develop a blood-based diagnostic method for multiple myeloma using Cytogen's liquid biopsy platform.
Multiple myeloma is a disease in which abnormal plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow, forming tumors in many bones of the body. Although there is no cure, treatments exist to slow disease progression. However, relapse and resistance frequently occur. According to the company, even with all currently available treatments, the disease can progress again. Therefore, the importance of diagnosis is very high.
Diagnosis of multiple myeloma involves checking for an increase in plasma cells through bone marrow examination. Diagnosis using circulating plasma cells (CPC) in the blood partially employs flow cytometry. However, bone marrow diagnosis causes severe pain to patients, and there is a high unmet medical need for a standardized diagnostic platform for analyzing CPCs in blood.
Cytogen's liquid biopsy platform has the sensitivity to detect very small numbers of CPCs in the blood. Compared to existing flow cytometers, it achieves a high recovery rate of CPCs in blood (over 80%) through immunofluorescence staining using markers of multiple myeloma cells.
Additionally, the company explained that CPC diagnosis in blood using Cytogen's liquid biopsy platform can provide diagnostic convenience compared to bone marrow examinations, which cause severe pain to patients.
A Cytogen representative stated, “The U.S. multiple myeloma diagnostic market is expected to grow to $9.7 billion (approximately 12.7 trillion KRW) by 2030. Cytogen’s platform can offer a new diagnostic method for multiple myeloma diagnosis in blood, where there is a high unmet medical need.” He added, “Through the introduction of this liquid biopsy platform, we will lead the establishment of standardized diagnostic methods for multiple myeloma, improve patients’ quality of life, and increase survival rates.”
Oh Byung-yong, a researcher at Hanyang Securities, said, “Cytogen possesses technology that can isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood at the cellular level using its independently developed high-density microporous (HDM) chip. It is a promising technology that can diagnose cancer and identify its characteristics by securing patients’ CTCs without performing tissue biopsies.”
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