Guided Therapeutics (GT) has received confirmation of additional funding from Konica Minolta Opto, (KMOT) of Tokyo to co-develop new, non-invasive cancer detection products. The new funding, expected to be approximately $1.59m over 12 months, is in addition to option to license payments GT currently receives from KMOT. Work on the project is expected to begin immediately.

As part of the agreement, KMOT is expected to purchase prototype devices and rely on GT for establishing the technical approach and regulatory strategy for potential entry of the new products into the US and international markets.

Furthermore, the agreement follows more than two years of collaborative preparations and the recent completion of a directional marketing study, commissioned by GT and KMOT, that confirmed the market opportunity for extension of GT’s LightTouch technology into new product areas.

The new products, for the detection of esophageal and lung cancer, are based on GT’s LightTouch non-invasive cervical cancer detection technology, which is undergoing the FDA’s premarket approval process.

Mark Faupel, president and CEO of GT, said: “Now that we are moving into the production and international marketing phase of LightTouch for cervical cancer detection, we can utilise our experienced R&D team to expand our product portfolio. We are pleased to be working with Konica Minolta to extend the LightTouch platform into these new and exciting product areas.”