15th Jul 2025 11:52
(Alliance News) - Oxford Biodynamics PLC on Tuesday said its biomarkers were shown to be effective indicators of cancer in trials conducted by Pfizer Inc.
The Oxford, England-based biotechnology company develops medical tests. It described its EpiSwitch biomarkers as "an effective liquid biopsy method" meaning they can analyse blood samples. EpiSwitch has been used in a bladder cancer study by New York-based pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
According to OB, the biomarker readings correlated with the immune profiles of patient tumours, which suggests its method "can effectively determine whether a tumour has high or low immune activity".
The firm asserted blood testing can provide accurate data on immune responses to cancer "in a less invasive manner than traditional tissue biopsies".
"These results support the growing evidence that EpiSwitch technology, already utilised in prostate cancer testing, has the potential to revolutionise cancer detection and monitoring across various types of cancer," OB added.
OB shares more than doubled to 0.55 pence each on Tuesday morning in London. Pfizer shares were up 0.2% at USD25.39 in pre-market trading in New York.
Besides analysing the effectiveness of OB's test method, the Pfizer trial demonstrated "a significant survival benefit" in patients dosed with Pfizer's avelumab treatment. Avelumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor, meaning it aims to help the body recognise and fight diseased cells.
"The results from the published Pfizer study are a powerful endorsement for our blood-based biomarker EpiSwitch technology," commented OB Chief Scientific Officer Alexandre Akoulitchev.
The news comes after a challenging half-year for OB, which widened its pretax loss to GBP5.9 million from GBP4.9 million in the six months that ended March 31. Back in June, Chair Iain Ross said: "The bedrock for the commercial success of this business and the source of vital non-dilutive funding will be through 'doing deals' and I am confident it is not a case of 'if' but 'when'."
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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