Potential Of BQTTM As A Test For Osteoporosis

Main Category: Bones / Orthopaedics
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 14 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Crescent Diagnostics Ltd ("Crescent") has announced the publication of a recent study demonstrating the potential of the Bone Quality Test, BQTTM to diagnose osteoporosis. More women at risk can be screened with an accurate, simple to use test which does not require a hospital visit.

Crescent is conducting multiple clinical studies to investigate the ability of the BQTTM to detect osteoporosis and expand the screening of women at risk. The most recent published study carried out at the University of Limerick, Ireland compared the potential of the BQTTM to identify patients at risk of fracture with DXA, the current reference standard that measures bone mineral density ("BMD"). The study compared the fingernail clippings of 169 patients, 39 with a history of fracture and the remainder in a control group with no fracture history. The lower disulphide content in nails obtained from patients with a history of fracture was statistically significantly lower than in patients without a history of fracture (p=0.025). 26 out of 39 subjects (67%) with a history of fracture recorded values below the cut-off value for disulphide content of the nail as measured by Raman spectroscopy.

Commenting on these findings Ernest Poku, Chief Executive Officer of Crescent said, "We are pleased that these preliminary results confirm the earlier clinical findings and show the potential of the BQTTM to aid the identification of individuals at risk of osteoporosis at a much lower cost than current tests."

Crescent recently began recruiting patients for FRAN, a large multi-centre trial in the UK and Ireland. This study aims to demonstrate the potential of the BQTTM to evaluate fracture risk in hundreds of post-menopausal women. The results are expected in early 2008.

Mr. Poku explained that Crescent "now plans to enter into dialogue with regulatory agencies to determine the optimum route to market approval for the test". The company is planning to complete a Series A funding round in early 2008 to provide the funding to complete the BQTTM regulatory process.

Crescent, founded in 2004, is a development stage diagnostic company focused on advancing its BQTTM. Low cost accurate alternatives to DEXA are needed to enable wider osteoporosis screening.

About Crescent Diagnostics Ltd

Crescent Diagnostics is redefining the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis by developing the BQTTM, a novel test which assesses human fingernail structure as a surrogate marker for bone structure. A BQTTM Point of Care test could be simple and accurate enough to enable wider population screening, addressing a market exceeding $700m. Crescent Diagnostics has offices in Limerick, Ireland and London, UK. For more information visit http://www.crescentds.com

About Bone Quality Test, BQTTM

The Bone Quality Test is a Raman spectroscopy analysis performed on the nail in-situ or on a nail clipping. The results are highly repeatable and the test can be delivered at the point of care cost effectively. The BQTTM addresses the need for more accurate osteoporosis testing to reduce fractures in the community which costs billions of dollars worldwide annually.

Journal Reference

Towler et al - Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine. J Mater Sci: Mater Med (2007) 18:759-763. Published as epub ahead of print 30 November 2006