Vortex Biosciences is a US-based oncology diagnostic company, developing a novel liquid biopsy automated instrument (VTX-1) and microfluidic cartridge for the isolation of circulating tumour cells from whole blood without the need for any pre-treatment.
Vortex Biosciences’ main mission is to become the innovation leader in CTC capture technology delivering diagnostic tests that improve therapeutic decisions and save lives. The key potential is to revolutionize cancer diagnosis leading to better therapeutic outcomes.
Its technology integrates cancer biology, microfluidic engineering, clinical research and the identification of cancer therapies and drug targets.

‘Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are cancer cells, which have detached from the primary tumor and have entered the patient bloodstream. These CTCs are known to be the key cause of secondary tumors in patients. As a result, the number and type of CTCs in a patient blood is highly indicative of the status of cancer in that patient. CTCs provide insight into the source of the primary tumor, grade, invasiveness, response to therapy and recurrence. As an indication, approximately 1.5 million new cancer patients are diagnosed per year in the United States, and around 20 million existing patients are undergoing monitoring.’