Grant Life Sciences obtains license for human papillomavirus test

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Jan. 19 - Grant Life Sciences Inc. said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Drs. Peter Sveshnikov and Vsevolod Kiselev of Russia for the in-licensing of a test for the detection of human papillomavirus, the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The test comes to Grant from the U.S. State Department through its Bio-Industry Initiative program, which is designed to foster medical and biological research and development in the former Soviet Union by providing former biowarfare scientists with "productive peacetime activities," according to a company news release.

Sveshnikov and Kiselev developed an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay that uses monoclonal antibodies to detect specific cancer-causing proteins from the human papillomavirus in the cervical mucous and cells, which make up liquid-based Pap samples.

The test can detect cancer-causing proteins from human papillomavirus types 16 and 18, which Grant said are responsible for most cervical disease.

Grant said this type-specific antigen test, once fully validated and expanded to include additional types of human papillomavirus associated with cervical dysplasia and cancer, would be a very synergistic and complementary test to existing Pap technology.

It will provide for very low-cost human papillomavirus testing without the need for additional cervical specimens beyond what is now taken. In addition, large capital outlays would not be required, since most laboratories can readily do Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay testing, the company said.

Sveshnikov and Kiselev have already tested their technology with 1,000 Russian samples. Grant said it will further validate the test with specimens from Russia and the United States under its Institutional Review Board approval in controlled clinical settings.

"Together, when validated, Grant will have two complementary cervical dysplasia or cancer diagnostic tests that will work on blood serum or cervical mucous and cells," Grant president and chief scientist Hun-Chi Lin said in the release.

"A blood-based test is eminently suitable for the 1.7 billion women worldwide who currently are not tested by Pap smear cytology. This inadequacy results in over 300,000 deaths per year.

"Meanwhile, a test employing cervical mucous or cells is readily fitting for Western medical venues, and has the potential of reducing costs dramatically when compared against those for current human papillomavirus DNA-testing," Lin added. "Furthermore, it could significantly reduce expenditures for follow-up referral procedures that turn out to be overwhelmingly negative, with billions of dollars per year in unnecessary medical expenses saved as a consequence."

Grant Life Sciences is based in Murray, Utah, and develops products to improve the efficiency of detecting and diagnosing cervical cancer.

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