Industry Buzz: Provista Teams With Lpath to Improve Ovarian Cancer Tests

Provista Diagnostics has entered into an agreement with Lpath to create new laboratory tests targeting significant gaps in early ovarian cancer detection. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Provista, which focuses on molecular-based cancer diagnostic testing, said the parties would focus their collaboration on a bioactive known as lipid lysophosphatidic acid, or LPA, which can be an indicator of cancer. It plans to enter into a pilot project study with Lpath, where the latter would conduct measurements of LPA levels in the plasma of ovarian cancer patients and use the data for test development. The San Diego-based Lpath has created a technology platform for generating therapeutic antibodies, but Chief Executive Officer Scott Pancoast said “it also has potential utility in diagnostic settings.” Provista said it would provide the San Diego-based Lpath with an up-front payment, research funding, and development milestone payments, as well as royalties for any tests that are developed from the collaboration. “Provista is committed to advancing the standard of diagnostic care for women at risk or suffering from ovarian and other cancers, and LPA is a potential biomarker that could be critical to achieving this goal,” Provista Chief Executive Officer David Reese said in a statement. The company declined to answer specific questions. Ovarian cancer kills 14,000 women in the United States every year, while 22,000 new cases are diagnosed. The rates of diagnosis have risen about 10 percent over the past 15 years. Although long-term survival rates top 90 percent if diagnosed early, there are few laboratory tools to assist in doing so. “There is a huge demand for a better, more decisive test,” said Peter Francis, president of Clinical Laboratory Sales Training LLC in Woodstock, Md. “The problem is that the early stages of the disease have no obvious symptoms and no screening tests have proven to be effective . . . due to the complex biology of this disease.” Francis added that while there are some molecular-based tests on the market, they are most effective in monitoring the progression of the disease or its recurrence.