The latest precision medicine test EpiSwitch CiRT predicts a patient's anticipated response towards Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (ICI) therapy
Oxford BioDynamics makes flagship Checkpoint inhibitor Response Test clinical blood test available in UK. (Credit: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay)
Biotechnology firm Oxford BioDynamics has made its flagship Checkpoint inhibitor Response Test (CiRT) clinical blood test available in the UK.
The EpiSwitch CiRT blood test forecasts a cancer patient’s likelihood of responding to the popular class of medicines, ICIs, which includes anti-PD-L1 and anti-PD-1 immunotherapies.
CiRT gives a doctor quick, individualised feedback on expected efficacy using a standard blood test for a more deliberate decision about whether to start or continue treatment.
Oxford BioDynamics has made the test available to private physicians in the UK for patients opting ICI therapy.
The test showed high sensitivity of 93%, specificity of 82%, the accuracy of 85%, and a significant negative predictive value (NPV) of 93% across several ICIs from multiple pharmaceutical companies.
EpiSwitch CiRT was originally introduced in the US in February 2022 as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT). The test’s introduction in the UK follows early uptake by early adopters.
The firm said that the private healthcare providers in the UK will first have access to the CiRT as an LDT. The test is available to registered physicians.
Oxford BioDynamics CEO Jon Burrows said: “We understand that in order to provide the best quality care for cancer patients, clinicians should be able to base their decision of therapy choice on meaningful and accurate data.
“We have already seen in the US that a simple blood test, such as the CiRT, that can predict the patient response to ICIs, could quickly become an essential tool for clinicians.”
Burrows added: “We are proud to make this now available to UK patients, as well.
“While initially, this is only available to private healthcare providers, we aim to widen availability through the NHS as well.”
The company recently presented the clinical utility data on the EpiSwitch CiRT clinical assay’s prediction at the American Society of Clinical Oncologists Annual Meeting (ASCO 2022) in Chicago, Illinois.