T-Ray Science obtains BC Cancer Agency lung cancer device Verisante Core license

T-Ray Science, a medical device company committed to developing systems for the early detection of cancer, has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the BC Cancer Agency for rights to an optical biopsy device Verisante Core for the early detection of lung cancer.

The Verisante Core device, which detects spectral bio-markers for cancer, prevents unnecessary biopsies and the resulting stress and health-care risks and costs that accompany the biopsy procedure, T-Ray Science said.

T-Ray earlier acquired technology from and is collaborating with BC Cancer Agency, UBC Department of Dermatology and VGH Skin Care Centre, and will now collaborate with co-inventor of the device Stephen Lam and the VGH Lung Centre.

The Verisante Core series for lung cancer detection and the Verisante Aura series for skin cancer detection utilise a proprietary cancer detection technology platform developed by the BC Cancer Agency.

This exclusive platform technology allows T-Ray to develop and offer a range of cancer detection devices for many of the most common cancers.

Under the terms of the Agreement, T-Ray adds an exclusive worldwide right to use and sublicense the BC Cancer Agency’s patented lung cancer detection technology to its original licensing agreement announced in July 2010.

In return, the company will pay BC Cancer Agency an increased annual royalty and will issue an additional 200,000 stock purchase warrants to BC Cancer Agency.

T-Ray previously had obtained the rights to the device for skin cancer, all gastrointestinal tract cancers and cervical cancer.

The lung cancer detection device developed by the BC Cancer Agency has been clinically tested on more than 50 patients.

The study was done by the BC Cancer Agency in collaboration with the Lung Centre at Vancouver General Hospital.

Lam said that it is critically important to have an optical biopsy system such as the Verisante Core device to help make informed surgical biopsy decisions, because endoscopists and surgeons do not want to take unnecessary biopsies of lung tissue. For optimum patient health, benign lesions should be left alone.