Telo Genomics Launches Clinical Validation of its Smoldering Multiple Myeloma Diagnostic Test
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2022) - Telo Genomics Corp. (TSXV: TELO) (OTCQB: TDSGF) (FSE: 3D0A) (the "Company" or "TELO") announces that it has received clinical samples from its collaborator, Mayo Clinic, to conduct the clinical validation of the Company's lead product in development, its TeloView®prognostic test for segregating high risk and low risk smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) patients.
TELO announced on March 28, 2021, that it had completed the feasibility stage of its ongoing clinical studies in collaboration with Mayo Clinic. The completion of the feasibility stage has allowed the Company to advance to the clinical validation stage, an important step in the process to make its TeloView®test for SMM commercially available for clinical use.
SMM is a biologic precursor to multiple myeloma, a deadly cancer that forms in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Typically, SMM is asymptomatic, but approximately 15% of SMM patients transition to active multiple myeloma, which involves marked pain, the risk of bone fractures, and other debilitating symptoms. Identifying high risk SMM patients, who will ultimately transition to active multiple myeloma is a critical unmet need in the management of multiple myeloma. The incidence rate of multiple myeloma is approximately 35,000 in the USA.
The Company's TeloView®test for SMM has the potential to identify high risk SMM patients who will benefit from earlier treatment intervention, and of equal importance, the test has the potential to predict the subset of low risk patients who have a more stable form of the disease and do not require treatment. Low risk SMM patients may be repeatedly tested up to every three months to monitor their status without the need for intervention. TELO, in consultation with industry leaders, estimates that there are over 200,000 patients in the USA that may benefit from its TeloView®test for SMM, with a potential total addressable market of over 500,000 tests per year.
The development of the Company's TeloView®test for SMM has the potential to resolve a critical unmet need in the management of multiple myeloma. Currently a number of clinical trials are focused on treating high risk SMM patients, however, the progress of these trials is constrained by the lack of an effective tool to identify and segregate high risk SMM patients and low risk SMM patients. Furthermore, the treatment cost of a full stage active multiple myeloma patient can exceed $100,000 per year. Treating the 80% of the SMM patients who are in the stable, low-risk category, would create an unnecessary cost to the healthcare system.
"We are gratified to have reached the clinical validation stage of our TeloView®test for SMM and to continue our collaboration with Mayo Clinic," said Sherif Louis, TELO's CEO. "This set of patient samples will allow TELO to complete this crucial stage of test development to help meet a critical clinical unmet need."
About TELO
Telo Genomics Corp. is a biotech company pioneering the most comprehensive telomere platform in the industry with powerful applications and prognostic solutions. These include liquid biopsies and related technologies in oncology and neurological diseases. Liquid biopsy is a rapidly growing field of significant interest to the medical community for being less invasive and more easily replicated than traditional diagnostic approaches. By combining our team's considerable expertise in quantitative analysis of 3D telomeres with molecular biology and artificial intelligence to recognize disease associated genetic instability, TELO is developing simple and accurate products that improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of pathologists, clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers. The benefits of our proprietary technology have been substantiated in over 150 peer reviewed publications and in 25 clinical studies involving more than 3,000 patients with multiple cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Our lead application, TELO-MM is being developed to provide important, actionable information to medical professionals in the treatment of multiple myeloma, a deadly form of blood cancer. For more information please visit www.telodx.com.
For further information, please contact:
Hugh Rogers,
Director
416-673-8487
info@telodx.com
MaRS Centre, South Tower,
101 College Street, Suite 200,
Toronto, ON, M5G 1L7
www.telodx.com
Neither the TSX