Cancer test OK likely Vermillion’s savior

Sept. 18, 2009

Under the shell of bankruptcy protection, Vermillion Inc. won FDA clearance for an ovarian cancer test that could save time, money, lives and maybe the company itself.
The test, called OVA1, allows doctors to triage women with a pelvic mass by using a blood test to check the levels of five proteins that change when ovarian cancer is present. That could prevent many women from undergoing exploratory surgery to determine if a mass is cancerous.
Vermillion in March filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the weight of more than $32 million in debt and only $7 million in assets. Now it must help partner and investor Quest Diagnostics Inc. bring OVA1 to market by the end of the year, file a reorganization plan, study other potential partnerships and maybe even be acquired.
“The beauty of this is, the company will be poised to look at all its strategic options,” said Gail Page, Vermillion’s executive chairman. “There are a lot of things that are happening concurrently.”