US-based Guardant Health and Japan’s SoftBank have formed a new joint venture to expand commercialization of Guardant Health’s industry-leading liquid biopsy technology in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

These are regions where more than 7.8 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year, a statement said.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group chairman and CEO, said, “Guardant Health is applying the breakthrough technologies of machine learning and genomics to cancer – one of the world’s biggest challenges. Guardant’s approach is built on smart science and a smart business model, in which its capabilities grow each time a doctor uses its services. Our investment will enable Guardant, already the clear leader in an exciting field, to become the Rosetta Stone for cancer, across all stages.”

This financing will support work to expand Project Lunar, Guardant Health’s early cancer detection efforts announced in 2016. The initial Lunar products will look for evidence of residual disease in patients who have undergone surgery, radiation, or other treatments intended to cure them of cancer. Then, Guardant Health expects to introduce tests to identify early signs of cancer in high-risk patients who have not yet been diagnosed.

“We believe our rapid, iterative approach will generate the data necessary to develop non-invasive tests that are both sensitive enough to detect cancer early in high-risk populations, and specific enough to avoid inflicting unnecessary anxiety and harm through overdiagnosis,” said AmirAli Talasaz, Guardant Health co-founder and president.

Guardant Health, a world leader in comprehensive liquid biopsies, announced an ambitious goal to sequence the tumour DNA of more than 1 million cancer patients within five years. Guardant Health expects the data from the Guardant 1 Million effort to fuel fundamental advancements across the continuum of cancer care, and accelerate the development of blood-based tests for early cancer detection. - TradeArabia News Service