• Combination of DNA biomarkers with microbiome biomarkers has potential to enhance technical profile of novel pancreatic cancer screening test
• Joint research project to discover disease specific microbiome biomarkers

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas with one of the highest mortality rates of all major cancers. Each year, roughly 466,000 lives are taken globally, and it’s the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide.¹ It has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with typically late detection and poor outcomes with standard-of-care treatment(s). The 5-year overall survival rate is approximately 11% in the U.S.² and 9% globally.³ However, if diagnosis occurs in the early stages of the disease, the survival rate is significantly higher.

Mr Baechler added, “Given the growing understanding of the microbiome’s role in pancreatic cancer, we believe it’s of paramount importance to explore integrating diagnostic microbiome biomarkers into the test as it advances to the clinical stage of development and as such, are delighted to align with a global leader in sourcing and analyzing microbiome generated species and datasets.”

The project is expected to run through late 2023 and will deploy Microba’s Community Profiler (MCP), the Company’s unique metagenomic platform technology. MCP has been established as a best-in-class research tool with the ability to produce comprehensive and accurate species profiles of human gastrointestinal samples. Mainz is currently commercializing its flagship product ColoAlert, a highly efficacious and easy-to-use detection test for colorectal cancer (CRC) in select international territories and in December of 2022, initiated a U.S. Pivotal Clinical Study (ReconAAsense) for a CRC screening test that may integrate the Company’s portfolio of novel gene expression (mRNA) biomarkers.  These biomarkers have demonstrated potential to identify advanced adenomas, a type of curable pre-cancerous polyp often attributed to CRC that are being evaluated in European and U.S. studies (ColoFuture/eAArly DETECT). Results from eAArly DETECT are expected in mid-2023 and Mainz anticipates enrollment in ReconAAsense to commence in the second half of 2023.