MTI travels to China for clinical trial and new business opportunities.
September, 2014

Dr. Richard Fedorak and Mr. Reg Joseph visited our collaborative partner, BGI-Shenzhen in Shenzhen, Guangdong province as we enter the next phase of our clinical trial. This is a validation study of our flagship product, PolypDx™, a non-invasive, urine test that detects individuals who have the precursors to colorectal cancer. By testing our product in a different ethnic population than Alberta, we will be able to ensure that the test is valid for a global population. Phase I has been completed where 1000 patients were enrolled, provided urine samples, and underwent routine colonoscopy. During the visit, Dr. Fedorak and Mr. Joseph met with Dr. Huiru Tang’s team, at the Wuhan Institute of Math and Physics in partnership with BGI-Shenzhen. Dr. Tang will lead the onsite sample processing, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and is responsible for quality control and assurance. Every effort has been made to align the instrumentation, sample handling, standards, calibrations, and operating protocols between Alberta and China to ensure consistent profiling of samples allowing us to draw commercially relevant comparisons and make modifications as necessary. Phase II of the study, involving sample and data analyses, will commence in October 2014.

Concurrently, the MTI team along with researchers at the University of Alberta have entered into a new research partnership with BGI-Shenzhen that has significant commercial potential. Importantly, MTI is now recognized as a world leader in transitioning experimental metabolomics-based health screening tools into the clinical setting. The new research and business opportunities focus on inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity, and fecal microbial transplantation. Stay tuned for more developments!