The Three-Hour Test Aiming to Outsmart a Silent Killer

ITASCA, IL – June 09, 2026 – In the relentless battle against cancer, few enemies are as formidable or as stealthy as pancreatic cancer. It is a disease that often remains hidden until it's too late, earning it a grim prognosis and a place as one of the deadliest malignancies. But a new alliance announced today between diagnostics innovator Biocartis and the world-renowned City of Hope research center aims to drag this killer into the light, armed with a strategy that hinges on two of the most powerful forces in modern medicine: speed and precision.

The two organizations have entered into an agreement to explore the development of a rapid, blood-based gene signature test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. By combining City of Hope's validated biomarker science with Biocartis's automated Idylla™ diagnostic platform, this collaboration represents a significant step toward solving one of oncology's most urgent challenges.

A Race Against a Brutal Clock

Understanding the significance of this partnership requires confronting the stark reality of pancreatic cancer. The disease is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. by 2030. Its lethality is intrinsically linked to its late-stage diagnosis. The pancreas is located deep within the abdomen, and early-stage tumors rarely produce noticeable symptoms.

As a result, a staggering 80-90% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage when the cancer has already spread. For these individuals, the five-year survival rate is a bleak 3%. Yet, for the small fraction of patients whose cancer is caught at a localized, early stage, surgical intervention can boost that survival rate to over 80%. The chasm between these outcomes defines the unmet clinical need: a reliable way to find the disease early.

Current diagnostic tools are insufficient for this task. Imaging techniques like CT and MRI scans often fail to detect small, early-stage tumors. The most common blood biomarker, CA19-9, lacks the sensitivity and specificity to be used as a standalone screening tool. This diagnostic gap leaves clinicians and at-risk patients without a clear path, waiting for symptoms that signal an advanced, and often incurable, disease.

“There is a tremendous clinical need to detect pancreatic cancer at earlier stages when the chance of cure is significantly higher than at later stages, where treatment options are limited,” said Dr. W. Michael Korn, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Biocartis. “With this collaboration, we will work towards a rapid and sensitive early detection test that will particularly benefit patients with increased risk of the disease.”

The Science of a Breakthrough

The collaboration's strategy is a two-pronged attack on the problem. The first prong comes from years of meticulous research at City of Hope, led by Ajay Goel, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics.

Dr. Goel’s team has developed and validated a sophisticated liquid biopsy signature based on microRNAs (miRNAs)—tiny molecules that are highly stable and easily detectable in bodily fluids like blood. By analyzing a specific panel of these miRNAs, some of which are carried in tiny vesicles called exosomes that act like ZIP-coded packages from the pancreas, the test can identify the disease's molecular footprint. The results have been exceptional. In multiple international patient cohorts, the biomarker panel has demonstrated remarkable accuracy, reaching up to 97% for detecting early-stage pancreatic cancer when combined with the existing CA19-9 marker.

“City of Hope has spent years building and validating a microRNA-based liquid biopsy signature across multiple international patient cohorts, and the data consistently show the platform can detect what current FDA-approved noninvasive tests miss," stated Dr. Goel.

This powerful biomarker discovery is the “what” of the solution. The “how” comes from Biocartis. The Belgian diagnostics firm’s Idylla™ Platform is a fully automated, “sample-to-answer” system. It takes a raw sample, such as blood, and performs all the necessary steps—from cell lysis and DNA/RNA extraction to real-time PCR analysis—within a self-contained, disposable cartridge. The entire process requires less than two minutes of hands-on time and delivers results in about three hours.

This fusion of City of Hope’s high-accuracy biomarker with the Idylla™ platform's speed and simplicity is the core of the innovation. It aims to create a test that is not only scientifically robust but also clinically practical, capable of being run on-demand in local hospital labs without the need for specialized technicians or batching samples.

The Strategic Blueprint for Innovation

This agreement is a textbook example of modern translational medicine, where academic discovery is purposefully bridged with commercial infrastructure to deliver patient impact. Groundbreaking research from institutions like City of Hope can languish in a “valley of death” without a commercial partner capable of navigating the complex terrain of product development, regulatory approval, and market launch. Biocartis provides that pathway.

Under the agreement, Biocartis has secured an option to license the key patents and know-how from City of Hope, a deal that includes an initial option fee for the research institution. For the diagnostics company, this de-risks the discovery phase and allows it to focus on its core competency: engineering and commercializing powerful diagnostic tools. Fresh off a 2023 recapitalization that strengthened its balance sheet, the firm is well-positioned to invest in this high-potential expansion of its oncology portfolio.

For City of Hope, the partnership offers a direct route to move its life-saving research from the lab bench to the patient bedside, fulfilling its core mission while generating revenue that can be funneled back into future scientific exploration. This symbiotic relationship is crucial for accelerating progress in a field where every day counts.

Reshaping the Future of Patient Care

If successfully developed and approved, the impact of such a test on clinical practice would be profound. Today, oncologists cite slow test turnaround times as a major operational hurdle. A three-hour result could empower clinicians to make critical decisions faster, stratifying high-risk patients for further surveillance or moving confirmed cases toward immediate intervention.

The test would likely first be deployed for screening high-risk populations—individuals with a family history of the disease, certain genetic mutations, or a new diagnosis of diabetes, which has been linked to pancreatic cancer. For these individuals, a simple, rapid blood test could replace uncertainty and anxiety with actionable information.

The path from an investigational concept to a clinically available diagnostic is long and rigorous, involving extensive validation studies and stringent review by regulatory bodies like the FDA and European authorities. However, the foundation laid by this partnership—uniting a highly accurate biomarker with a proven, rapid-automation platform—offers the most credible hope yet for changing the narrative of pancreatic cancer from one of despair to one of early detection and survival.