Healthscope to provide OvPlex ovarian cancer test in Australia

Melbourne biotech HealthLinx announced today that it will resume distribution its OvPlex ovarian cancer biomarker test through Healthscope’s national network of collection centres after the healthcare provider’s acquisition of ARL Pathology last year.

The acquisition resulted in the relocation of ARL’s extensive OvPlex lab testing facilities to Healthscope’s main testing lab in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton.

“OvPlex testing was suspended purely because of this ‘moving house’ procedure,” HealthLinx managing director, Nick Gatsios said.

“It was protracted because of the complicated nature of the technology involved but we are delighted with this new partnership and feel that the product will realise its true potential with Healthscope.”

The OvPlex test, which measures the levels of five biomarkers in a blood sample, is seen as a superior performing alternative to CA-125 alone in detecting ovarian cancer, achieving some 94 percent sensitivity and specificity.

The Healthscope announcement coincides with the launch of a major international trial of a second generation OvPlex test, which aims to assess the potential of two new biomarkers.

Healthscope Pathology COO Paul Waterson, said he that he hoped the new collaboration would see a marked increase in the number of Australian women able to access the test, now available at the company’s 340 national collecton centres.

“Healthscope Pathology looks forward to working with HealthLinx to make this test available to all Australian women and potentially save many lives,” he said.