Colorado State University and NeoTREX Enter into Agreement with Veterinary Diagnostic Institute to Develop Test to Detect Canine Hemangiosarcoma

Colorado State University Research Foundation and NeoTREX entered into an exclusive license agreement this week with Veterinary Diagnostics Institute of Irvine, CA for development of a biomarker assay which detects canine hemangiosarcoma.

The technology, co-invented by faculty at CSU’s Animal Cancer Center, a member of CSU’s Cancer Supercluster, and investigators at VDxI, will be used to detect levels of the enzyme thymidine kinase in dogs using a simple blood test.  Hemangiosarcoma occurs most often in large breed dogs older 8 years of age, often resulting in internal hemorrhage leading to death.  Other than ultrasound, there are no other prognostic methods to detect hemangiosarcoma in dogs.  It is anticipated that this method will be adopted by veterinary clinicians as an early detector of hemangiosarcoma.

There are currently more than 75 million pet dogs in the United States.  Nearly half of all dogs older than ten die from cancer.  

VDxI plans to develop the technology and co-market with another technology to detect lymphoma in dogs.  

Veterinary Diagnostics Institute is a specialty veterinary reference laboratory focused on providing veterinarians with specialty, esoteric diagnostic tests.

NeoTREX is the enterprise arm of the Cancer Supercluster. The goal of NeoTREX is to translate research discoveries into products that aid in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.  NeoTREX is a division of CSU Ventures, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

The Cancer Supercluster is a multi-disciplinary group of faculty members at Colorado State University from across campus. The goal is to bring together experts in different areas to work on cancer research.

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