In 2023, the emerging cancer diagnostics market is estimated to be valued at over $23 billion. Everything is fair game in “finding a cure to cancer”—be it potentially using blood drops or narrowing in on exosomes, which are tiny structures our cells produce to transfer messages, proteins, lipids, the good stuff. These structures might also be biomarkers, revealing the presence of cancer and assisting with early detection. 

INOVIQ (ASX: IIQ) is an Australian biotech company specialising in next-generation exosome solutions and precision diagnostics for early cancer detection. The Company has teamed up with US-based ResearchDx, a contract diagnostics organisation offering complete in vitro diagnostic (IVD) services. The duo has announced a license and supply agreement for INOVIQ’s EXO-NET® exosome capture technology, which will provide exosome isolation, biomarker discovery and diagnostics development services in the USA. 

The ResearchDx partnership builds on the previously announced three-year co-marketing agreement between INOVIQ’s EXO-NET exosome capture technology and Promega Nucleic Acid purification systems, both geared towards exosome isolation solutions.

INOVIQ CEO, Dr Leearne Hinch, said, “ResearchDx is a key part of our strategy to expand INOVIQ’s EXO-NET exosome services in the USA. It builds on our established and successful contract research relationship with them for development of our SubB2M tests (for breast cancer tests). By partnering with ResearchDx, US customers now have access to a full range of extracellular vesicle (EV) isolation, biomarker discovery and diagnostic development services by a CAP and CLIA accredited Contract Research Organisation.” 

She added, “This is an important, strategic move that enables us to provide high quality EXO-NET services to customers in the US, Australia and elsewhere, expanding our revenue generation opportunities for EXO-NET.”

ResearchDx is a US-based full-service contract diagnostics organisation (CDO) that offers a ‘start to finish’ partnership for the development of companion diagnostics (CDx), IVDs (as used for pregnancy tests, Covid tests and the like), and laboratory developed tests (LDTs).

This new agreement combines the expertise of ResearchDx in the development and validation of IVD diagnostics with INOVIQ’s EXO-NET technology and exosome-based diagnostics expertise.

ResearchDx Principal & Co-Founder, Dr Mat Moore, said, “We look forward to offering EXO-NET enabled EV isolation, biomarker discovery and diagnostic development services in our Development, GLP, and CLIA accredited laboratories to US customers. EXO-NET is a powerful exosome isolation platform that has the potential to enable earlier disease detection, and the more accurate monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy.” 

The licensing and supply agreement paves the way for both companies to provide high-throughput exosome isolation, biomarker discovery, and diagnostic development services using the EXO-NET technology to customers in the United States. This expansion of EXO-NET services in the USA comes after INOVIQ’s recent introduction of these services from their laboratory in Australia.

ResearchDx has already evaluated INOVIQ’s EXO-NET technology, and it will now offer a broad range of exosome services using EXO-NET to academic, biotech and pharmaceutical customers in the USA. These services will include EV isolation, biomarker discovery (DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids) and diagnostics development in its accredited laboratories.

The Company ended FY23 with $7.8 million in cash and reported a nearly 50% improvement in its losses from FY22.