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Massachusetts General Hospital joins PanFAM-1 prospective study for the early detection of pancreatic cancer in familiar risk groups

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Forming collaborations and establishing a presence in the USA is central to Immunovia’s reimbursement strategy and market introduction. The continued expansion of PanFAM-1 into the largest ever prospective multicenter study for early detection of pancreatic cancer is another vital step towards these goals.  The participation of the prestigious MassGen will strengthen the study, which is designed to validate IMMrayTM PanCan-d, Immunovia´s blood-based test for early detection of pancreatic cancer

LUND, Sweden, and Boston, USA ― Immunovia AB today announced that Massachusetts General Hospital is the most recent participant in PanFAM-1, a multicenter prospective validation study for the early diagnosis in high-risk individuals with Familial Pancreatic Cancer (FPC). Designed to validate Immunovia ́s blood test, IMMrayTM PanCan-d, the study will analyze more than thousand individuals over three years across sites in the US and Europe already offering FPC screening programs. The aim is to prove the overall healthcare benefits of testing hereditary pancreatic cancer patients.

Working closely with several leading pancreatic cancer authorities, Immunovia identified three main criteria for the enrolment of the sites participating in the multisite prospective study. Massachusetts General Hospital fulfils all three: broad patient reach, an ongoing surveillance program for the familial pancreatic cancer risk group and world renowned clinical expertise in pancreatic cancer.

“There is a tremendous need for the early detection of pancreatic cancer in order to improve survival rates,” says Daniel C Chung, MD, clinical chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit and director of the High-Risk GI Cancer Clinic at Massachusetts General. “There are many individuals who have a high hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer and we are therefore pleased to join the PanFAM-1 study and investigate the clinical utility of IMMray™ PanCan-d.”

“The recruitment of Massachusetts General Hospital as the latest PanFAM-1 center is highly encouraging. Dr. Chung´s team has been instrumental in building a case for hereditary screening and we believe the study will prove IMMrayTMPanCan-d is ideal for this purpose. Their participation, alongside other leading US centers, also vindicates our decision to establish a testing laboratory in Boston last year as part of our commitment to serving the market better,” commented Mats Grahn, CEO, Immunovia.

The other PanFAM-1 partners to date are:  Mount Sinai in New York, Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, USA, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Liverpool, UK, Ramon y Cajal Institute for Health Research, Madrid, Spain and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Advanced discussions over potential participation continue with several other European and US centers running high risk surveillance programs.

For more information, please contact: 

Mats Grahn

Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Immunovia

Tel.: +46-70-5320230

Email: mats.grahn@immunovia.com

About Immunovia
Immunovia AB was founded in 2007 by investigators from the Department of Immunotechnology at Lund University and CREATE Health, the Center for Translational Cancer Research in Lund, Sweden. Immunovia’s strategy is to decipher the wealth of information in blood and translate it into clinically useful tools to diagnose complex diseases such as cancer, earlier and more accurately than previously possible. Immunovia´s core technology platform, IMMray™, is based on antibody biomarker microarray analysis. The company is now performing clinical validation studies for the commercialization of IMMray™ PanCan-d that could be the first blood based test for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In the beginning of 2016, the company started a program focused on autoimmune diseases diagnosis, prognosis and therapy monitoring. The first test from this program, IMMray™ SLE-d, is a biomarker signature derived for differential diagnosis of lupus, now undergoing evaluation and validation. (Source: www.immunovia.com) Immunovia’s shares (IMMNOV) are listed on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm and Wildeco is the company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.immunovia.com.

About Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer is one of the most deadly and difficult to detect cancers, as the signs and symptoms are diffuse and similar to other diseases. There are more than 40,000 deaths and over 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone, and the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is currently 5-7 %. It is predicted to become the second leading cause of cancer death by 2020. However, because resection is more successful in stage I/II, early diagnosis can significantly improve pancreatic cancer patients’ 5-year survival rates from 5-7 % to potentially 50-60%.

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