Diaceutics, an Irish medtech company, issued a warning to the industry on Thursday after its research found that as many as 156,000 cancer patients miss out on vital drugs each year due to less than optimal diagnostic testing, Silicon Republic reports.
Each year, more than 1.7 million cancer patients in the US and Europe are tested each year to detect whether there are any precision drugs available that would be more effective with their genetic make-up than widely prescribed drugs.
However, due to "substandard" and "questionable" testing methods, Diaceutics CEO Peter Keeling attests that "patients are missing out on live-saving drugs". Moreover, he argues that the industry itself is losing out on some EUR15bn in potential revenues annually.
"Many of the oncology patients that are tested for precision drugs are seriously ill. Physicians therefore need to be able to see the results of those tests as soon as possible. However, novel tests often suffer from issues with sample management, high rates of false negatives and delayed turnaround times, which lead to patients missing out on the drugs they need and therefore potentially facing a much bleaker prognosis," Keeling continued.
The CEO stated that Diaceutics is committed to enhancing and streamlining the process by "bridging the gap between pharmaceutical companies and diagnostics".
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