HAIFA, Israel, Sept. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Savicell Diagnostics Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Online Disruptive Technologies Inc., is pleased to announce it has achieved high accuracy identifying lung cancer across all its stages (I to IV) through its liquid ImmunoBiopsy™ platform. Savicell’s first-in-class liquid ImmunoBiopsy™ utilizes a non-invasive blood test to measure the metabolic state of the immune system and it acts as a diagnostic to identify early disease states.

In a cohort of 245 participants, the ImmunoBiopsy™ achieved 97% sensitivity and 97% specificity among patients with lung cancer. Importantly, even at stage I sensitivity was 97%. A more detailed analysis of the cross validated study results is available in a new study report available on the Company’s website: http://www.savicell.com/publications.html

Savicell’s liquid ImmunoBiopsy™ platform offers a number of advantages, including:

• High sensitivity and specificity
• Easy administration through a simple blood test
• Safe and cost-effective
• Results in hours
• Earlier detection of cancer saves lives

In comparison, other blood-based diagnostic cancer tests are focused on detecting circulating biomarkers, such as tumor DNA, tumor antigens, tumor cells, exosomes, or extracellular vesicles. These biomarkers are released into the blood, primarily when the tumor reaches a certain size in a later stage of the cancer. Unfortunately, the tumor growth required to detect cancer using many of these tests seem to make them less effective in detecting early stage cancer (stage I).

Similarly, while diagnostic imaging methods, such as a computed tomography (CT) scan, low-dose CT scan (LDCT), and radiography, all have high sensitivity and were shown to save lives, they have low specificity, with false positive rates of 96.4% for LDCT and 94% for radiography. In turn, this often leads to a large number of unnecessary follow-up procedures. These procedures are expensive, invasive and can have significant complication risks.

The combination of low dose chest CT scans with the liquid ImmunoBiopsy™ platform may also reduce the need for follow-up screening of suspected lung nodules, preventing unnecessary radiation exposure and may decrease the number of unnecessary invasive procedures with their associated complications. In addition, the ease of the ImmunoBiopsy™ test for lung cancer may help improve adherence to routine medical screenings in high risk populations.

Giora Davidovits, CEO of Savicell, commented, “These results mark a breakthrough in the fight against cancer and are an important validation of our liquid ImmunoBiopsy™ platform as illustrated by the high specificity and sensitivity. The ability to detect cancer early is often the difference between life and death. There is a major unmet need for a safe and cost-effective liquid biopsy test that can help screen patients for early signs of cancer through the use of a patient-friendly blood test. While our ultimate goal is early screening of the broader population, our immediate focus is to utilize this technology to assist physicians in the diagnosis of indeterminate nodules and help to significantly reduce the number of false positive results. As a next step, our goal is to help screen at-risk patients, such as smokers and former smokers, for early signs of lung cancer. The broad potential of this immunometabolism-based platform may also allow us to extend it to other types of diseases, as well as for use in treatment monitoring and therapy selection.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the development of our platform and completion of this trial, including our immunology and data science teams who worked tirelessly to fine tune and enhance our already very capable platform. We believe these results illustrate the importance of our test and its potential to contribute to the global fight against cancer.”

Shafrira Shai, Executive VP of R&D, stated “Savicell’s liquid ImmunoBiopsy platform monitors ex vivo cellular immune responses to antigenic stimuli within a few hours to determine whether the cells respond to each specific stimulus. These are extremely encouraging results and, to date, there is no other laboratory test we are aware of that provides such quick and accurate results.”