AnchorDx, a leading biotechnology company developing novel NGS-based early cancer detection and disease monitoring tests, has entered into a multi-year collaboration with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, to conduct a lung cancer study. The study is designed to enable the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer. The collaboration was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC.

The four-year study will be led by Zhong Nanshan, FRCPE, FRCP, FRCPI, a world-renowned respiratory disease expert and a professor at Guangzhou Medical University and Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases. Over 3,000 patients with pulmonary nodules identified by CT scan will be enrolled and followed up with in the next three years. During the study, clinical, imaging, and pathological data, as well as biospecimens, will be collected and analyzed.

AnchorDx has developed a proprietary cell-free DNA methylation test capable of distinguishing benign nodules from malignant pulmonary nodules by using the patient’s blood. It has initiated multiple large clinical validation studies using this assay, the largest of which—the Thunder Project—started in 2018, targeting to enroll more than 10,000 patients across 23 top hospitals in China.

“We are pleased to collaborate with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson and AnchorDx to develop lung cancer molecular diagnostic tests by leveraging molecular, clinical, and imaging AI technologies,” says Nanshan. “We hope this will greatly improve the accuracy of early diagnosis and evaluation efficiency for pulmonary nodule management in China and the world.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Professor Zhong and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, both are the global leaders in the field of pulmonary diseases and patient care as well as lung cancer innovation,” says Fan Jian-Bing, CEO, AnchorDx. We will leverage AnchorDx’s innovative technology and capabilities in R&D and clinical development and hope this collaboration facilitates the clinical validation of our diagnosis tests in large cohorts of lung cancer patients.” 

Through the collaboration with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, AnchorDx expects to accelerate its pulmonary nodule and early cancer detection programs.

For more information, visit AnchorDX