Abcodia

Abcodia is a company that focuses on biomarkers for cancer screening. Its aim is to discover biomarkers that can be used for the early detection of cancer.

Abcodia

Company type	Private
Industry	Biotechnology
Founded	September 2010
Headquarters	Cambridge  , United Kingdom
Key people	CEO Julie Barnes, COO Chris Hodkinson, Director of Science Wendy Alderton Director of Business Development Mike Fisher Chair Andy Richards Non-Exec Director and Principal Investigator for UKCTOCS. Ian Jacobs Non-Exec Directors Andrew Elder and Claire Hooper
Website	www.abcodia.com

Disease focus

Abcodia's primary focus is the study of biomarkers for cancer.

Cancer screening

On 18 September 2013 Abcodia announced that it had entered into an agreement for an exclusive license for the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA), a test studied for screening of ovarian cancer. The use of this test is not recommended by the FDA as there is no evidence it is either safe or effective.^[1]

History

Abcodia is a spin-out from University College London and was founded in 2010. UCL granted Abcodia the exclusive commercialisation rights to a serum collection created by clinical scientists at the Institute for Women's Health at UCL. The serum biobank was formed as part of the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening UKCTOCS, which was led by Professor Ian Jacobs and Professor Usha Menon.^[2][3][4]

Awards

December 2012, Abcodia won four prizes at the UK Startup Awards 2012 annual awards: Angel or VC-backed Business of the Year, Innovative Business of the Year, and Business Woman of the Year for its CEO Dr Julie Barnes. It also won the overall NatWest Startups Business of the Year for its work in cancer screening.^[5]

References

1. "Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests: Safety Communication – FDA Recommends Against Use". Food and Drug Administration. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
2. Burnell, M.; Gentry-Maharaj, A.; Ryan, A.; Apostolidou, S.; Habib, M.; Kalsi, J.; Skates, S.; Parmar, M.; Seif, M. W.; Amso, N. N.; Godfrey, K.; Oram, D.; Herod, J.; Williamson, K.; Jenkins, H.; Mould, T.; Woolas, R.; Murdoch, J.; Dobbs, S.; Leeson, S.; Cruickshank, D.; Campbell, S.; Fallowfield, L.; Jacobs, I.; Menon, U. (2011). "Impact on mortality and cancer incidence rates of using random invitation from population registers for recruitment to trials". Trials. 12: 61. doi:10.1186/1745-6215-12-61. PMC 3058013. PMID 21362184.
3. Fallowfield, L; Fleissig, A; Barrett, J; Menon, U; Jacobs, I; Kilkerr, J; Farewell, V; Ukctocs, Trialists (2010). "Awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors, beliefs and attitudes towards screening: Baseline survey of 21 715 women participating in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening". British Journal of Cancer. 103 (4): 454–61. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605809. PMC 2939792. PMID 20648018.
4. Jacobs, I.; Gentry-Maharaj, A.; Burnell, M.; Manchanda, R.; Singh, N.; Sharma, A.; Ryan, A.; Seif, M. W.; Amso, N. N.; Turner, G.; Brunell, C.; Fletcher, G.; Rangar, R.; Ford, K.; Godfrey, K.; Lopes, A.; Oram, D.; Herod, J.; Williamson, K.; Scott, I.; Jenkins, H.; Mould, T.; Woolas, R.; Murdoch, J.; Dobbs, S.; Leeson, S.; Cruickshank, D.; Skates, S. J.; Fallowfield, L.; Parmar, M. (2011). "Sensitivity of transvaginal ultrasound screening for endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women: A case-control study within the UKCTOCS cohort" (PDF). The Lancet Oncology. 12 (1): 38–48. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70268-0. PMID 21147030.
5. "NatWest Startups Business of the Year 2012: Abcodia". Startups.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2014.

External links

• Abcodia website