Oncimmune launches 'finger stick' collection for early lung cancer test

Oncimmune Holdings has launched a 'finger stick' version of its early cancer detection test in the US and other territories to allow doctors to carry out the test on the spot.

The AIM-listed company's EarlyCDT-Lung test will be the first product with finger-stick collection, so that doctors will no longer need to sent patient's to a phlebotomist to extract a blood sample.

Oncimmune claims the EarlyCDT-Lung test can detect lung cancer up to four years earlier than other methods, a hypothesis that NHS Scotland is testing in the largest ever randomised trial for the early detection of lung cancer using biomarkers in a study of 12,210 high-risk smokers.

Geoffrey Hamilton-Fairley, CEO of Oncimmune, said the test, especially with finger-stick collection, is highly cost effective.

"By introducing finger stick blood collection we have created an option that will increase the speed and simplicity with which the EarlyCDT-Lung test can be ordered and completed, with no loss of performance. We hope that this will make the test more accessible, especially in the US, so that more physicians and their patients will benefit from its ability to detect lung cancer early."

Shares in Oncimmune, which in Spetember raised £5m before expenses at a price of 120p per share, was unmoved at 117.5p on Thursday.