The BARD1 Life Sciences Ltd (ASX: BD1) share price has been a strong performer on Tuesday morning.
In early trade, the diagnostics company's shares are up 10% to $2.14.
This means the BARD1 share price is now up over 200% since the start of the year.
Why is the BARD1 share price racing higher?
Investors have been bidding the BARD1 share price higher today following the release of an announcement relating to its BARD1 autoantibody test for the early detection of ovarian cancer.
According to the release, the previously reported study results have been published in the international peer-reviewed journal Genes. This appears to have brought the company onto the radar of a wider group of investors, boosting the BARD1 share price.
The study data published in Genes shows positive results from BARD1's OC-CA125 and OC-R001 studies in ovarian cancer. These studies were performed at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) under a research agreement.
What is the study?
BARD1 is exploring several approaches for developing an accurate and reliable blood test for earlier detection of ovarian cancer utilising its proprietary BARD1 autoantibody (AAb) and SubB2M technologies.
The BARD1 autoantibody approach in the above studies used a research-stage enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) performed on a research use only (Meso Scale Discover) MSD platform to detect autoantibodies to BARD1 variant proteins.
However, whilst this has shown promising data, the company believes it requires considerable further assay development and technical validation on a commercial assay platform before advancement towards clinical development of a potential commercial test.
What else is happening?
In addition to this, the company advised that is developing a SubB2M-based approach that detects a pan-cancer marker called Neu5Gc. Proof of concept results using a research-stage SPR assay showed outstanding accuracy for detection of ovarian cancer, with 100% sensitivity and specificity across all stages compared to healthy controls.
Furthermore, SubB2M-based ELISA blood tests are currently being developed for monitoring treatment response and recurrence in women previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And finally, BARD1 is also looking to undertake further studies to expand indications for use of a SubB2M-based ELISA to a screening test for early detection of ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women.
Overall, a lot of promising developments, which goes some way to explaining the rapid rise in the BARD1 share price this year.
