Oncocyte Corp. (NYSE: OCX) of Irvine said it would cease work on its DetermaDx test, a liquid biopsy test aimed at detecting small masses of tissue in the lungs.
“DetermaDx represents Oncocyte’s legacy work on the first step of the cancer care continuum—diagnosis,” Chief Executive Ronnie Andrews said in a June 29 statement.
“We had one main criteria for the launch of our test in designing our clinical validation study: statistically significant improvement over and above the clinical factors being utilized by physicians today,” he said.
“Unfortunately, DetermaDx did not achieve that endpoint in clinical validation.”
In the three trading sessions after the announcement, shares of the Irvine-based firm fell about 52% to $1.55 and a $104 million market cap.
Oncocyte, which specializes in molecular diagnostics for the care and treatment of cancer, moved from the Bay Area to Irvine in January.
With work stopped on DetermaDx, the 11-year-old firm is currently commercializing two tests: DetermaRx and a research-only test for immunotherapies, called DetermaIO.
DetermaRx looks for lung cancer in patients with a high likelihood of recurrence. With its recent acquisition of Insight Genetics, the company said it also plans to leverage its products for pharmaceutical services contracts.
