Transgenomic completes acquisition of ScoliScore Prognostic Scoliosis Test

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Transgenomic has announced that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of Axial Biotech’s ScoliScore Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) Prognostic Test for US$4.4 million in cash. The acquisition provides Transgenomic with the ScoliScore assay technology and intellectual property, an established revenue and customer base, and access to a testing market estimated at 400,000 patients in the United States alone.

ScoliScore is the first clinically validated and commercially available saliva-based multi-gene test that provides a highly accurate assessment of the likelihood of spinal curve progression for individuals diagnosed with AIS, or an abnormal lateral curve of the spine. The ScoliScore Test identifies patients that will not progress to a severe curvature of the spine and reduces those patients’ need for repeated doctor visits, physical examinations and, most importantly, years of exposure to radiation from frequent X-rays. In a study completed by the National Cancer Institute, 5,466 women who had been monitored for scoliosis and were exposed to 25 or more X-rays during their adolescent years were followed into adulthood and experienced a 67% increase in breast cancer death versus the expected rate in the normal population.

“Using a simple saliva test, ScoliScore can predict, with 99% accuracy, those patients that will not progress to having a severe spinal curve. No other method of AIS evaluation is as accurate and convenient,” said Craig Tuttle, CEO of Transgenomic. “Yet this advantage is not just about convenience and safety. The health economic benefits of the ScoliScore Test are considerable for patients, physicians, and payors, when taking into account the time and expense associated with repeated radiography and the costs related to treating AIS.”