- 01Phase rollout in NSW & VIC.
- 02GPs access via BCAL network.
- 03Multi-cancer test; organ-origin cue.
- 0456.2% sensitivity, 98.4% specificity.
- 05Exclusive sales & distribution licence with ClearNote.
BCAL Diagnostics (ASX: BDX) has commenced the phased Australian market rollout of the Avantect blood-based test for the non-invasive detection of cancer-associated signals across multiple cancer types.
Initial distribution will take place in New South Wales and Victoria, supported through telehealth and in-person consultations, with samples processed at a US laboratory owned by Avantect developer ClearNote Health.
On request from a general practitioner or specialist, patients will be able to access the test through BCAL’s national clinical network.
The phased rollout will enable the company to build domestic experience across clinician engagement, patient demand, service delivery, pricing, and access pathways ahead of a broader national expansion.
Early Detection Portfolio
Avantect Multi-Cancer looks for signals across lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, gastric, oesophageal, breast, and colorectal cancers, then provides a likely organ-of-origin response to guide further investigation.
The rollout expands BCAL’s early detection portfolio, which includes the first-in-class BREASTESTplus test for breast cancer screening and the cutting-edge DNA-based Avantect blood tests for pancreatic and ovarian cancer held under an exclusive sales and distribution licence with ClearNote.
In a ClearNote case-control validation, Avantect Multi-Cancer demonstrated 56.2% overall sensitivity and 98.4% specificity across all analysed cancers.
The reported results came from a large case-control study using non-cancer controls, in which sensitivity and specificity were reported both across all cancer stages combined and each of the cancers individually.
New Diagnostic Solution
BCAL chief executive officer Anne-Louise Arnett said rollout would offer a new diagnostic solution not previously available on the Australian market.
“The direction of cancer diagnostics is increasingly moving toward earlier less-invasive detection, and blood-based testing has a role to play in that shift,” she said.
“We are pleased to provide Australian patients and the community with another solution to access earlier detection of cancers with a request from a general practitioner or specialist.
“Avantect Multi-Cancer expands our commercial portfolio and provides an opportunity to leverage our existing national infrastructure to build a broader early detection business.”
Earlier this year, BCAL expanded access to its early cancer detection tests by embedding referral pathways into major clinical software systems used by general practitioners and specialists.
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