Hologic Inc. (NSDQ:HOLX) is touting interim results from a clinical trial of its Cervista test for the human papilloma virus.
The study of the test, designed to detect 14 high-risk strains of the virus, compared it with the Hybrid Capture 2 test made by Dutch diagnostics giant Qiagen. It’s a major cervical cancer screening trial involving more than 10,000 Chinese women. The preliminary results from data from about half of those patients indicates that the two tests are "clinically equivalent," according to a press release.
The Hologic test is based on the Invader molecular detection platform. The company claims it’s the first new HPV testing assay in more than 10 years and the only test to feature an feature an "internal control" to rule out an insufficient sample as the cause of a negative test, according to the press release. Cervista won clearance from the Food & Drug Administration in March 2009.