Trinnovate Ventures recently announced it is partnering with VisionGate, a Phoenix-based company dedicated to improving diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer, to support the clinical trial programs for VisionGate’s LuCED (a non-invasive diagnostic test targeting early-stage lung cancer), and Iloprost, VisionGate’s chemoprevention drug for patients with precancerous lung conditions, or dysplasia.
LuCED is a physician-prescribed, at-home sputum test with accurate sensitivity and specificity across all lung cancer types and stages. LuCED’s potential to detect dysplasia, or pre-cancerous cells, makes it an important aid in the company’s chemoprevention therapy, Iloprost, which is currently in Phase 2b clinical trials.
“Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer worldwide and is the only cancer whose five-year survival rate has remained virtually unchanged for decades due to the lack of an effective screening test that could significantly impact survival, while other cancers have benefited from a mammogram, Pap smear, colonoscopy, or PSA,” said Dr. Vishu Jhaveri, Trinnovate CEO and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s CMO, in a press release. “VisionGate’s accurate LuCED test for lung cancer and dysplasia, along with the company’s exclusive rights to Iloprost, a therapeutic drug that has exhibited in Phase 2 clinical trials the ability to reverse pre-cancerous dysplasia to prevent lung cancer, demonstrates incredible promise.”
Trinnovate Ventures, a collaboration-oriented subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, will be the primary investor for VisionGate’s $20 million funding round as a result of the partnership. Trinnovate has evaluated VisionGate for more than 12 months and is confident that its investment supports VisionGate’s potential in the marketplace to make a significant impact in lung cancer mortality, as well as develop new lung cancer management and treatment paradigms.
The new collaboration will enable the upcoming clinical research to advance so that residents of Arizona and people worldwide might have quicker access to VisionGate’s potentially life-saving diagnostic tests and therapeutic innovations.
“Our focus is on finding lung cancer early – when patients are pre-symptomatic, but when treatment is most effective. This is how we start eradicating lung cancer,” said VisionGate Chairman and CEO Dr. Alan Nelson. “Our partnership with Trinnovate is pivotal and accelerates our effort to lower healthcare costs through the application of our patented technologies that hold potential to dramatically alter the course of lung cancer, including its prevention.”