SANTA FE, N.M., Aug. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biomoda, Inc. (OTCBB:BMOD), the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech) appeared before the State Legislature's Interim Tobacco Settlement Committee to report that 500 New Mexico veterans have committed to participate in a state-funded program for the detection of early-stage lung cancer based on Biomoda's proprietary technology.
John Cousins, Biomoda president and CEO, told the legislators that the $1.65 million appropriated for the screening program has raised awareness among New Mexico veterans of the U.S. armed forces about their increased risk for developing lung cancer and the importance of early detection. Of the 500 volunteers for the program, more than 100 have completed the screening.
Biomoda's diagnostic is based on a patented molecular marker originally developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory that preferentially binds to cancerous or aberrant cells and causes them to fluoresce under ultraviolet light. Under the guidance of a respiratory therapist, study volunteers provide a deep-lung sputum sample to be processed with Biomoda's CyPath(r) assay in the Biomoda lab. Results are compared to a CT scan and PAP stains read by cytopathologists to confirm accuracy.
"This study will help us move the CyPath(r) technology closer to FDA approval and commercialization, bringing a non-invasive, accurate, and inexpensive tool for detecting cancer to market," Cousins said. "The health benefits of the Biomoda diagnostic are obvious and have worldwide implications."
NM Tech presented a scientific abstract on the Biomoda diagnostic at the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Francisco, CA, on August 2, 2009.
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