NucleoBio's new test kit could accurately reveal results of prostate cancer screening

May 4 2018

Recognizing that prostate cancer in men is misdiagnosed, NucleoBio Inc.^™ is developing a new product, Prostac^©, that will accurately reveal results of a prostate cancer screening. Currently, there is no test that differentiates between indolent and aggressive prostate cancer, and Prostac is the first assay of its kind that utilizes new and advanced technology to distinguish these two types of prostate cancer that differ vastly.

NucleoBio Inc. is developing and commercializing prostate cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, with the support of the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. The company's product Prostac is a test kit that will significantly change the way medical professionals administer prostate cancer testing. "Prostac is a non-invasive, urine-based test that will resolve numerous flaws in existing prostate cancer screening methods," said Charles Oyesile, M.D., Ph.D., NucleoBio Inc. CEO and co-founder. "Up to 75 percent of prostate-specific antigen tests given today return a false positive; the tests suggest there is prostate cancer when it's actually not. As a result, patients are being misdiagnosed, overtreated and overcharged. These situations cause patients heightened anxiety and undue stress. Prostac is going to drastically improve health care for men and dramatically disrupt the health care industry."

Prostac harnesses genetics for the detection of cancer. Being a multiplex test, it will be more accurate than existing prostate cancer tests, such as PCA3 and PHI. It's a molecular biomarker-based test that is non-invasive and urine-based. Prostac may eliminate the need for expensive and potentially harmful prostate biopsies. The lowered cost is encouraging for men who get annual exams. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men and 164,690 new cases are forecasted in 2018. Men 65 or older and African-American men are considered a high-risk population.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has already issued one of three patent applications for NucleoBio Inc. Developed at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY), the university has been working with NucleoBio since the beginning. "We have a strong IP protection of the background technology and optioned the portfolio exclusively to NucleoBio," said Neeti Mitra, senior manager-industrial liaison and licensing for CUNY's Technology Commercialization Office (TCO). "We are confident that partnering with NucleoBio will help us commercialize this portfolio, which is our main goal at CUNY TCO."

Prostac is significant because of its ability to detect new genetic elements in biological samples. "Prostac will reveal cancer-specific information from patients' biological samples," said Olorunseun Ogunwobi, M.D., Ph.D., NucleoBio Inc. co-founder and head of the Ogunwobi laboratory at Hunter College, CUNY. "Consequently, this product will be highly sought by hospitals and laboratories interested in non-invasive biomarker assays for the diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer."

The complete test kit is currently in development and corporate executives plan to market it globally. The molecular biomarker test, which is a quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based test, can be performed with the patient's urine or blood. The test kit will contain several components and will be available to physicians and health care professionals at medical facilities that offer prostate cancer screening and men's health care. Processing for Prostac will occur at CLIA-certified laboratories and other specialized laboratories.