Hong Kong's Phase Scientific gets US$34 million to advance test for cancer risk factor HPV
Hong Kong's Phase Scientific International (PSI) has raised US$34 million from private investors to further develop a non-invasive test for human papillomavirus (HPV), a major cause of cervical cancer.
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The test developed by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park-based company, best known as a provider of COVID-19
tests during the pandemic, was the world's first urine-based HPV test, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Founder and CEO Ricky Chiu Yin-to said the company aimed to commercialise a home collection kit after the completion of a large-scale clinical study next year, which was expected to confirm favourable results the test had obtained so far.
'The market potential is huge because urine sampling is non-invasive and easy to do, which will help raise the compliance rate on regular testing,' he said.
Some 95 per cent of cervical
cancer is caused by persistent HPV infection of the cervix, according to the WHO.
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PSI had overcome technical barriers for using urine as a medical sampling medium through a patented technology that concentrates and purifies urine samples, Chiu said.
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