Guardant Health Presents Data at 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting Showing Blood Test Highly Accurate in Detecting Colorectal Cancer in Patients With Early-Stage Cancer

Rhea-AI Summary

Guardant Health reveals promising early results from the LUNAR-2 blood test at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrating a 91% sensitivity for detecting early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) with a specificity of 94%. With only 68% of adults over 50 screened for CRC, this test may improve compliance with CDC goals. The ECLIPSE trial, a 10,000-patient study, is underway to validate these findings and support FDA approval. Guardant's CEO emphasizes the test's effectiveness in both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, showcasing its potential for clinical adoption in average-risk populations.

Positive

• LUNAR-2 test shows 91% sensitivity and 94% specificity for early-stage CRC.
• Test performance is consistent with previous data, indicating reliability.
• No sensitivity differences in asymptomatic vs. symptomatic patients.
• ECLIPSE trial underway to support FDA premarket approval, enhancing credibility.

Negative

• None.

Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH) presents new data at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting being held from June 4-June 8, 2021, showing that its LUNAR-2 blood test is a highly sensitive test that can detect colorectal cancer (CRC) in early-stage cancer patients. This largest ever cohort continues to demonstrate the performance and robustness of the LUNAR-2 assay.^1,2

Today, it is estimated that only 68% of adults, 50 years and older, are screened for CRC despite the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) target compliance goal of 80%.^3-5 A patient-friendly blood testing option with high sensitivity could finally bridge the gap to this compliance goal, and bend the mortality curve for the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.⁶

The data (N=705) show that the LUNAR-2 assay achieved overall sensitivity of 91% in early-stage CRC (stage I, II, and III), and specificity of 94%. The performance in this new cohort of CRC cases, and cancer-free controls, is consistent with previously reported data.^1-2 Notably, no differences in sensitivity for CRC detection were observed in patients presenting with asymptomatic disease, compared to those patients who were symptomatic, despite the lower cell-free DNA (cfDNA) tumor fractions observed in asymptomatic patients, suggesting the test will have clinically meaningful performance in an average-risk screening population. Further, an expanded multi-cohort analysis of over 1,300 cases of patients with CRC, demonstrated that the LUNAR-2 assay consistently delivers clinical meaningful sensitivity for the detection of early-stage cancer.

The LUNAR-2 assay achieves industry-leading performance for detecting early-stage CRC by simultaneously interrogating somatic, methylation, and fragmentomic signals from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood.

“It’s exciting to see the latest data on Guardant Health’s LUNAR-2 assay, which are consistent with prior data, but most importantly deliver the performance necessary for clinical adoption in average-risk colorectal cancer screening,” said Jeeyun Lee, MD, Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Samsung Medical Center. “It’s great to see the momentum Guardant Health has achieved since the introduction of their best-in-class liquid biopsy technology in 2014. Now, they are at the precipice of delivering a highly sensitive colorectal cancer screening test, and I look forward to seeing the outcome of their registrational study.”

“What makes this data particularly exciting is that our LUNAR-2 assay continues to show clinically meaningful performance in increasingly larger cohorts of patients with early-stage cancer,” said Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health CEO. “Furthermore, our assay delivered comparable sensitivity in both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, despite the significantly reduced signals in asymptomatic patients. We’re pleased with the test performance which exceeds the benchmark required for clinical adoption in an average-risk patient population.”

The ECLIPSE trial, a 10,000-patient registrational study, is currently underway to evaluate the performance of LUNAR-2 to detect CRC in an average-risk adult population. If successful, Guardant Health expects data from the trial will support a premarket approval (PMA) submission to the FDA. The trial is expected to complete enrollment by the end of 2021.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on helping conquer cancer globally through use of its proprietary blood tests, vast data sets, and advanced analytics. The Guardant Health oncology platform leverages capabilities to drive commercial adoption, improve patient clinical outcomes, and lower healthcare costs across all stages of the cancer care continuum. Guardant Health has commercially launched liquid biopsy-based Guardant360^®, Guardant360 CDx, and GuardantOMNI^® tests for advanced stage cancer patients, and Guardant Reveal^™ test for early-stage cancer patients. These tests fuel development of its LUNAR screening program, which aims to address the needs of asymptomatic individuals eligible for cancer screening.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential utilities, values, benefits and advantages of Guardant Health’s liquid biopsy tests or assays, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Guardant Health’s financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation” and elsewhere in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in its other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2021. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Guardant Health as of the date hereof, and Guardant Health disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guardant Health’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

References

1. Kim ST, Raymond VM, Park JO, et al. Combined genomic and epigenomic assessment of cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) improves assay sensitivity in early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 916.
2. Westesson O, Axelrod H, Dean J, et al. Integrated genomic and epigenomic cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis for the detection of early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC). Poster presented at: The American Association for Clinical Research Virtual Annual Meeting II; June 22-24, 2020.
3. Nov 2019 NCCRT Annual Meeting, presented by Richard Wender Chief Cancer Control Officer ACS. Data based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey
4. US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Colorectal Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2016;315(23):2564–2575. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.5989
5. American Cancer Society. Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2020-2022. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/colorectal-cancer-facts-and-figures/colorectal-cancer-facts-and-figures-2020-2022.pdf. Accessed online June 3, 2021.
6. American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20colorectal,about%2052%2C980%20deaths%20during%202021. Accessed online June 3, 2021.

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FAQ

What were the findings of Guardant Health's LUNAR-2 blood test presented at ASCO 2021?

The LUNAR-2 blood test demonstrated a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 94% for early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) during the ASCO 2021 meeting.

How does the LUNAR-2 test impact colorectal cancer screening compliance?

With current CRC screening rates at only 68%, LUNAR-2's high sensitivity may help achieve the CDC's screening goal of 80%.

What is the ECLIPSE trial related to Guardant Health's LUNAR-2 blood test?

The ECLIPSE trial is a 10,000-patient study evaluating LUNAR-2's performance in average-risk adults, aimed at FDA approval.

What does the consistent performance of the LUNAR-2 test in various patient cohorts indicate?

The consistent performance suggests that LUNAR-2 is effective for detecting early-stage CRC in different patient populations, including both asymptomatic and symptomatic cases.