Landmark “iStopMM” trial to start

13 April 2016

Binding Site is proud to be a key collaborator with Prof Sigurdur Kristinsson of the University of Iceland in his pivotal MGUS screening study for the forthcoming iStopMM (Iceland Screens, Treats or Prevents Multiple Myeloma) trial.

The study will examine blood samples from approximately 140,000 adults over age 40 in Iceland for the earliest signs of myeloma. A cancer of the blood plasma cells that affects approximately 90,000 in the US, and more than 200,000 around the world, myeloma can go undiagnosed until the disease begins to seriously damage health.

The company has been a significant contributor to the study design, is crucial to its execution, and will lead the initial screening phase of the study from their state of the art facility in Birmingham, UK. They will be utilising the Freelite^® immunoassays together with automated electrophoresis testing equipment.

Dr Stephen Harding, R&D Director, and one of the instigators of this study said “iStopMM is at the heart of everything Binding Site has stood for since the launch of Freelite; we are delighted to support Prof Kristinsson and to continue our close collaborations with both he and Prof Ola Landgren from Memorial Sloan Kettering”

Freelite^® is a unique polyclonal antibody-based test, specifically designed by Binding Site to accurately and precisely measure monoclonal free light chains in blood. Free light chains are produced in a variety of haematological (blood) cancers including Multiple Myeloma. The introduction of the Freelite^® test into clinical laboratories in 2001 changed the paradigm for patients – its use has made a major contribution to a better understanding of these disease conditions and their outcome. Freelite^® is the only test approved by the International Myeloma Working Group for quantifying serum free light chain¹.