UroSens Rebrands to Arquer Diagnostics Ltd

UroSens Ltd, a diagnostic company developing novel, non-invasive urine-based immunoassay tests for the detection of cancer, has changed its name to Arquer Diagnostics Ltd to reflect the progression of its strategic focus beyond prostate and bladder cancer into diagnostics for multiple cancers of the urinogenitary tract, including colorectal and cervical cancers.

A £2 million ($3 million USD) investment last December supported extension of laboratory space at the company’s Sunderland site from 300 sq ft to 1555 sq ft and expansion of the commercial and technical teams. It also enabled Arquer to begin commercialisation of its Mcm5-ELISA test, which is expected to significantly reduce the number of patients undergoing invasive and costly biopsies, as it can offer highly accurate diagnostic results from small amounts of body fluid.

Mcm5 (minichromosome maintenance complex component 5) is a protein which only appears when cells divide and is a marker for the presence of dividing cancer cells. Arquer’s test is based on intellectual property licensed exclusively from Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the development and commercialisation arm of Cancer Research UK.

Dr Ian Campbell, CEO at Arquer, commented: “This is a very exciting time for the Company. As we expand our focus into new areas we are taking the opportunity to update and strengthen how we represent ourselves, in line with our strategy. The rebranding represents our ambitions to bring our novel assay to the market, providing patients with a simple non-invasive test for cancers of the urinogenitary tract.”

Arquer will officially celebrate its new brand with clients and contacts at Medica 2015, 16-19th November, Düsseldorf.