19 May 2017 - - US-based medtech company Diaceutics' research results show that more than 156,000 cancer patients in the US and Europe could be missing out on targeted life-saving drugs every year due to suboptimal diagnostic testing therefore potentially affecting their chances of survival, the company said.

Diaceutics has also found that substandard testing practices are causing pharmaceutical companies in the US and Europe to miss out on up to USD 16.6bn in potential revenues annually.

Every year, 1.7m cancer patients in the US and Europe undergo tests that determine whether or not there are precision drugs available that are likely to work better with their genetic makeup than more widely prescribed drugs.

However, suboptimal testing practices such as delayed reporting of test results, false negatives and sample management issues mean that patients and pharmaceutical companies are missing out.

Diaceutics estimates that the figures are in fact much higher, as its data doesn't take into account the number of patients that aren't tested at all.

The company's research has found that even some four years after new diagnostic tests become available, just 50% of patients that may be eligible for precision drugs will have been tested by their physician.

That, along with suboptimal testing practices, could be causing pharmaceutical companies to be missing out on up to USD 56bn annually.

By providing pharmaceutical companies with valuable insights driven by patient testing data, Diaceutics helps them to reach more patients that need to be on specific and often life-saving drugs and roll out those drugs faster.

The company said its data is gathered through partnerships with more than 230 laboratories that process diagnostic tests.

Through its work, Diaceutics has so far helped with the planning and or launch of more than 200 drugs worldwide.