Clinomics releases equipment that quickly finds lung cancer mutations

Clinomics, a South Korean biotech company specializing in liquid biopsies, on Thursday said it developed equipment that can detect four types of lung cancer-causing epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR, gene mutations within three hours. 

The machine improves user convenience by automatically separating plasma and filtering out cell-free DNA when whole blood is added, it added.

The company’s One-Stop All-In-One System automatically separates blood components and nucleic acids from 10 ml of whole blood.

This equipment was jointly developed with Asan Medical Center in Seoul and the Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province-based Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. Clinical research done at Asan found sensitivity of 90% and specificity 85% compared to a biopsy.

In the second half of this year, Clinomics will submit a clinical trial protocol to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, with clinical trials planned at Asan.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com