(NU/1433-11) GlycoScore: Commercialisation of university research through provision of management skills to assist in successful spin-out company creation

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. It develops slowly and can go undetected for many years. It has been estimated that the annual economic burden of the disease in the UK exceeds £269 million. This cost is expected to increase due to the rising prevalence of the disease, attributed to an ageing population. Current diagnosis relies on a combination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing (which has low specificity and no prognostic value), and tissue biopsies (which are expensive, can be painful and only provide a snapshot of the tumour). A major problem is the difficulty distinguishing indolent benign (benign prostate hyperplasia (BHP)) and aggressive tumours. This leads to over-diagnosis, resulting in unnecessary biopsies, but also means some aggressive cancers are missed.

The Newcastle University team have developed a simple in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) that looks for 3 protein biomarkers. This diagnostic test 'GlycoScore' is based on a simple protein detection method (ELISA), using patient blood, which is widely used in clinics across the world, increasing the chances of adoption. Importantly, we have demonstrated that our diagnostic is superior to the current PSA blood test. Analysis comparing benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer showed the GlycoScore had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 93%, whereas PSA had a PPV of 68%.

The team has strong links with clinicians and patient groups and has been working with these stakeholders to better understand the current care pathway and how GlycoScore could be best implemented in a clinical environment.

The initial brief of the executive will be to: