Lucid Diagnostics Launches Next-Generation Esophageal Pre-Cancer Test
Lucid Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq: LUCD) a majority-owned subsidiary of PAVmed Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM) has launched the next generation of its EsoGuard® Esophageal DNA test for the detection of esophageal precancer. Lucid demonstrated enhanced assay performance and lower costs in extensive validation studies of EsoGuard 2.0.
Lishan Aklog, M.D., Lucid’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The launch of EsoGuard 2.0 is a seminal milestone for our company and the culmination of over a year of meticulous R&D work by our Chief Scientific Officer, Suman Verma, M.D, Ph.D., and her dedicated and talented team. EsoGuard had previously demonstrated unprecedented cancer and precancer detection results. EsoGuard 2.0 improves upon EsoGuard 1.0’s already outstanding performance in multiple respects.”
Highlights
The results of the analytical validation studies of the EsoGuard assay, culminating in EsoGuard 2.0, have been accepted for presentation at the upcoming Association of Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting (AMP 2023) on November 18, 2023.
The EsoGuard assay extracts DNA from esophageal cells collected by the EsoCheck® Cell Collection Device. The DNA undergoes bisulfite conversion, which tags sites which are not methylated. Two genes, VIM and CCNA1, with 31 methylation sites that correlate with esophageal precancer and cancer, are amplified using polymerase chain reaction techniques and then sequenced using next-generation sequencing techniques. Advanced bioinformatics software analyzes the DNA sequence data and determines the proportion of the 31 target sites which are methylated, returning a positive or negative EsoGuard result.
All commercial and research samples received by the laboratory will now be processed using the EsoGuard 2.0 assay.
About Lucid Diagnostics
Lucid Diagnostics Inc. is a commercial-stage, cancer prevention medical diagnostics company, and subsidiary of PAVmed Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM). Lucid is focused on the millions of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as chronic heartburn, who are at risk of developing esophageal precancer and cancer. Lucid’s EsoGuard® Esophageal DNA Test is performed on samples collected in a brief, noninvasive office procedure with its EsoCheck® Esophageal Cell Collection Device. EsoCheck and EsoGuard are the first and only commercially available tools designed with the goal of preventing cancer and cancer deaths through widespread, early detection of esophageal precancer in at-risk patients.
