The Rhythm Biosciences Ltd (ASX: RHY) share price is rising following the company's latest addition to its ColoSTAT clinical trial.
In early morning trade, the medical device company's shares were up 3.57% to $1.015 before retreating to $1.00 at the time of writing, up 2%.
What did Rhythm announce?
In its statement, Rhythm advised Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) business, Sonic Clinical Services, has joined its ColoSTAT clinical trial.
Rhythm's ColoSTAT is an experimental test kit that is being trialled as a low-cost, easy-to-use blood test to detect colorectal cancer.
Sonic Clinical Services' Independent Practitioner Network (IPN) Medical Centres will bring a network of independent clinicians across NSW and Victoria.
IPN is recognised as Australia's largest network of medical clinics. Currently, the business has more than 2,000 doctors across 160 medical centres nationally, providing 10 million consultations per year.
The first patients from Sonic Clinical Services' IPN medical centres have already been recruited.
Rhythm CEO Glenn Gilbert said:
We are already working with Sonic Healthcare under an existing partnership for the storage and testing of ColoSTAT blood samples as part of the Study 7 clinical trial.
Expanding this partnership with an additional division, in Sonic Clinical Services' IPN, is a natural progression that will ultimately contribute to the success of the ColoSTAT clinical trial.
More on ColoSTAT and the Rhythm share price
Rhythm develops and commercialises Australian medical diagnostics technology for sale in domestic and international markets. The company's ColoSTAT is the first proposed product-in-development intended to accurately test and detect the early stages of colorectal cancer.
It's estimated around 850,000 people lose their life from colorectal cancer each year.
In the United States, Europe, and Australia, more than 130 million people aged between 50-74 years are unscreened for colorectal cancer. This represents an addressable market opportunity of more than $6.5 billion.
The Rhythm share price has accelerated by 1,300% in the past 12 months, reflecting positive investor sentiment. Additionally, the company's shares reached an all-time high of $1.675 in March, before some profit-taking swooped.
At today's prices, Rhythm has a market capitalisation of roughly $205 million, with approximately 202 million shares on issue.
