Cancer Screening Landscape Rapidly Evolving
By Boaz Kurtis
The cancer screening test market is next in line for a start-up driven, VC-backed shakeup. For years, screening tests for cancer involve getting a mammogram X-ray or more invasive tests like colonoscopies. The advent of Cologuard – a home based kit for colon cancer screening – signaled a major shift away from the more cumbersome, uncomfortable, and expensive screening tests.
Now, blood tests under development – so called “liquid biopsies” – represent the next evolution of cancer screening. These tests are designed to screen for numerous cancer types by detecting certain DNA sequencing patterns (typically an epigenetic one) and are thus considered “pan-cancer” or multi-cancer screening tests.
Grail, the company acquired by Illumina for $7.1B in 2021, is considered the market leader in this space with their multi-cancer early detection test that screens for more than 50 cancer types. But recent legal woes connected to the acquisition – the Federal Trade Commission ordered Illumina to divest the company earlier this year because of monopoly concerns - has opened the door for competitors to break into the space.
Harbinger Health recently announced a $140M Series B venture capital raise to further development of its test with a clinical trial recruiting 10,000 patients and aiming to launch its product in 2025. South Korean firm EDGC plans entry into the market next year with a similar product. While none of the tests currently have FDA-approval, the American Cancer Society (ACS) continues to support their development by funding research with the eventual goal of FDA approval, paving the way for wider access adoption of these potentially life-saving tests.
With their enormous potential impact on global public health, the multi-cancer early detection test market - valued at $856M in 2022 - is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 15.80% to become a $2.7B market in 2030. This trajectory, combined with the ACS support, will continue to make this space an attractive target for venture capital investment.