Cancer research wins competition

Rna Diagnostics Inc., a cancer diagnostics research company co-founded by Sudbury-based researcher Dr. Amadeo Parissenti, claimed the top prize earlier this year at a new business venture competition in Toronto.

Rna Diagnostics won best new business venture, best venture in the health-care field, and was named co-winner of the Best Intellectual Property Award at the TiEQuest 2011 Awards in Toronto. 

The company received the awards for its development of the RNA Disruption Assay (RDA), a new method of monitoring the response of breast cancer tumors to chemotherapy. Breast cancer patients who are identified as responding well to chemotherapy can continue their treatment, while patients identified by RDA as not responding can be switched quickly to alternate therapies, sparing them the adverse effects of continued chemotherapy.

“Through collaborations with our partners, including the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, we hope to bring an important new diagnostic tool to cancer patients worldwide, and support the development of a cancer diagnostic start-up company right here in Sudbury,” said Parissenti, an affiliate research scientist at Sudbury Regional Hospital’s Regional Cancer Program, and a co-founder of Rna Diagnostics. The three awards also earned Rna Diagnostics Inc. over $80,000 in funding and support services.