In 2012, as an Entrepreneur in Residence at a leading Silicon Valley Venture Firm, Artiman Ventures, Atul Sharan co-founded CellMax Life, applying semiconductor industry principles to a proprietary Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) bio-mimetic CMx platform to develop affordable, clinically proven blood-tests for Early Cancer Detection and Treatment. He was motivated to start CellMax as two members of his family have been diagnosed with cancer – one of them was diagnosed with breast cancer within two weeks of receiving a conclusively negative mammogram. Atul is a veteran of the high-tech industry with experience as an engineer, serial entrepreneur, CEO and angel investor. Read his full bio.
Interview with Atul Sharan, Co-founder and CEO, CellMax Life
Q: CellMax has developed non-invasive blood tests based on Circulating tumor cells CTC. How do you see these tests being adopted clinically?
A: Survival rates are greater than 90% for cancers that are detected at an early stage. For most cancers the majority of patients are still diagnosed too late. We need convenient, affordable and accurate tests that can boost testing compliance and also have the sensitivity to detect cancer early.
It has long been known that CTCs are the earliest sign of tumor cells in the blood-stream and finding them with a routine blood test would be an ‘ideal” screening test for early-detection of cancer. The unsolved technology problem is one of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack – 1-10 CTCs among a billion normal cells. At CellMax, after many years of extensive research we have found the needle. ASCO announced the results from a prospective clinical study that showed that CellMax’s proprietary CTC CMx platform was 84-88% accurate for the detection of early colorectal cancer and even pre-cancer.
The CTC based tests are already clinically available ex-US and will be made available in the United States in 2019.
Q: A lot of investment is going into ctDNA technology. What role do you see CTCs playing?
A: Yes $3 billion dollars have been invested in the last 3 years alone in companies with DNA based technologies for early detection.
Recent cfDNA data presented at AACR and ASCO on colorectal and breast cancers suggest that DNA or methylation based approaches alone may not have the sensitivity required for early cancer detection. A multi-biomarker approach incorporating our ultra-sensitive circulating tumor cell technology can address this gap.
Once a patient has been diagnosed, our ultra-sensitive CTC blood test is a cost-effective option for monitoring for minimal residual disease, treatment effectiveness and disease recurrence.
Q: Do you have accredited labs in Asia and the US. How do you see differences in Asia and US?
A: Asia has several large population countries and there is significant need for an affordable early cancer detection. Locating in Asia allows us to offer fast turnaround for Asia but also the Middle-East.
In Asia tests are mostly self-pay. Any diagnostics – especially on the screening side – that relies on insurance re-imbursement to be affordable is bound to fail. Used to be that Asia would wait for the US to first adopt – however nothing could be further from reality now. One common complaint in Asia is that many companies in the US have no clue about the price-points that work in Asia where there are no insurance companies to underwrite un-neccesarily over-priced tests. CellMax strategy from the beginning has been to offer globally affordable early cancer detection tests.
The Precision Medicine World Conference (PMWC), in its 17th installment, will take place in the Santa Clara Convention Center (Silicon Valley) on January 21-24, 2020. The program will traverse innovative technologies, thriving initiatives, and clinical case studies that enable the translation of precision medicine into direct improvements in health care. Conference attendees will have an opportunity to learn first-hand about the latest developments and advancements in precision medicine and cutting-edge new strategies and solutions that are changing how patients are treated.
See 2019 Agenda highlights:
- Five tracks will showcase sessions on the latest advancements in precision medicine which include, but are not limited to:
- AI & Data Science Showcase
- Clinical & Research Tools Showcase
- Clinical Dx Showcase
- Creating Clinical Value with Liquid Biopsy ctDNA, etc.
- Digital Health/Health and Wellness
- Digital Phenotyping
- Diversity in Precision Medicine
- Drug Development (PPPs)
- Early Days of Life Sequencing
- Emerging Technologies in PM
- Emerging Therapeutic Showcase
- FDA Efforts to Accelerate PM
- Gene Editing
- Genomic Profiling Showcase
- Immunotherapy Sessions & Showcase
- Implementation into Health Care Delivery
- Large Scale Bio-data Resources to Support Drug Development (PPPs)
- Microbial Profiling Showcase
- Microbiome
- Neoantigens
- Next-Gen. Workforce of PM
- Non-Clinical Services Showcase
- Pharmacogenomics
- Point-of Care Dx Platform
- Precision Public Health
- Rare Disease Diagnosis
- Resilience
- Robust Clinical Decision Support Tools
- Wellness and Aging Showcase
See 2019 Agenda highlights:
- Five tracks will showcase sessions on the latest advancements in precision medicine which include, but are not limited to:
- AI & Data Science Showcase
- Clinical & Research Tools Showcase
- Clinical Dx Showcase
- Creating Clinical Value with Liquid Biopsy ctDNA, etc.
- Digital Health/Health and Wellness
- Digital Phenotyping
- Diversity in Precision Medicine
- Drug Development (PPPs)
- Early Days of Life Sequencing
- Emerging Technologies in PM
- Emerging Therapeutic Showcase
- FDA Efforts to Accelerate PM
- Gene Editing / CRISPR
- Genomic Profiling Showcase
- Immunotherapy Sessions & Showcase
- Implementation into Health Care Delivery
- Large Scale Bio-data Resources to Support Drug Development (PPPs)
- Microbial Profiling Showcase
- Microbiome
- Neoantigens
- Next-Gen. Workforce of PM
- Non-Clinical Services Showcase
- Pharmacogenomics
- Point-of Care Dx Platform
- Precision Public Health
- Rare Disease Diagnosis
- Resilience
- Robust Clinical Decision Support Tools
- Wellness and Aging Showcase
- A lineup of 450+ highly regarded speakers featuring pioneering researchers and authorities across the healthcare and biotechnology sectors
- Luminary and Pioneer Awards, honoring individuals who contributed, and continue to contribute, to the field of Precision Medicine
- 2000+ multidisciplinary attendees, from across the entire spectrum of healthcare, representing different types of companies, technologies, and medical centers with leadership roles in precision medicine