VolitionRx has received CE mark approval for its Nu.Q colorectal cancer screening triage test to market in the European countries.
With the support of University of Copenhagen’s Hvidovre Hospital, the new blood test has been developed at Volition's laboratories in Belgium.
According to the company, the Nu.Q triage test has showed the potential to reduce colonoscopies by up to 25% while maintaining almost 97% detection of colorectal cancer when combined with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) score.
In Europe, FIT is mostly used as the first line test for colorectal cancer screening, and later they will be referred for colonoscopy.
Out of 28 EU states, the 14 states are having organized colorectal cancer screening programs, while the remaining states are providing various public or privately accessible screening.
Volition intends to launch the new blood test in these territories as part of a five year plan.
Volition CEO Cameron Reynolds said: "This is a very exciting time for Volition as we are coming to market with a product that we believe meets a pressing and immediate need in many European countries.
“This is easily our biggest achievement yet, and is the result of many years of work from our dedicated team. This milestone signals our transition from a research and development phase to a commercial one."
Volition chief marketing and communications officer Louise Day said: “Being able to offer European healthcare systems a simple and easy to use blood test which can be used to triage FIT positive populations for colorectal cancer has the potential to make a significant difference in many people's lives and to help health care systems better serve patients.”