SAN DIEGO -- Trovagene, Inc., a developer of trans-renal molecular diagnostics, has made significant scientific and financial strides toward a new and effective test for potential use in monitoring for pancreatic cancer recurrence and response to therapy.
A widely-read financial writer and TV commentator said the company has “all the pieces” to reap a sizeable share of the huge market for monitoring and testing of cancer patients. And a financial analyst wrote that Trovagene´s trans-renal diagnostics could be as important an advance as the MRI.
The Trovagene efforts drawing attention:
• The San Diego-based company announced a collaboration agreement with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for the detection of KRAS mutations in the urine of patients compared with KRAS mutations in biopsies from the same patients. According to study leader Dr. Mathew H. Katz, FACS, of MD Anderson, biopsies only sample a portion of a tumor while urine involves a systemic sample of the patient. KRAS mutations have been found to be present in more than 90% of pancreatic cancers and in 23% of all solid cancer tumors. ¨The reliable detection and quantification of both KRAS mutations and wild type molecules from urine could eventually lead to a sensitive method for staging tumors before treatment and detecting minimal residual disease after treatment,” said Dr. Charlie Rodi, Trovagene chief technology officer.
• Trovagene announced the successful completion of the analytical development of digital PCR assays for the detection of the most prevalent KRAS mutations, and would attempt to validate the assays performance. The urine-based detection could lead to a wide platform for monitoring minimal residual disease and progression of disease in oncology, according to Trovagene CEO Antonius Schuh, PhD.
• Following its listing on the NASDAQ stock exhange (NASDAQ: TROV, NASDAQ: TROVU), Trovagene was added to the Russell Microcap Index as part of the global asset managers annual reconstitution of its family of U.S. indexes.
“We believe that inclusion in the Index, along with our recent NASDAQ listing, will serve to broaden our investor base and increase our stock´s liquidity as we continue to grow our business both domestically and globally,¨said Schuh.
Financial commentators reacted favorably to Trovagene´s developments. James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital who has written extensively for The Financial Times, online sites such as TheStreet.com and Forbes and appeared on CNBC and other networks, noted that $22 billion a year is spent on continued monitoring and diagnostics of cancer patients.
“Trovagene has all the pieces in place to get a good chunk of that $22 billion market,” he said.
Another financial observer is TimelessWealth.com, a leading financial media firm developing proprietary assets that it says deliver accurate, timely, and actionable investment ideas to investors worldwide.
“Non-invasive trans-renal markers and diagnoses may supplant standard procedures the same way that the MRI revolutionized internal medicine, " the analysts said. “The inherent risks associated with a small biotech company such as Trovagene are obvious, however the potential for growth in a company with less than a $55M market capitalization in a rapidly expanding market is tremendous.
Contact:
Alex Michelini
michelinialex@aol.com
The Promotion Factory
5 E.19th St., New York, NY 10003
T. 212-217-9065
F. 212-217-9075
