ASX BRIEFS
Welcome to 'ASX BRIEFS,' the definitive podcast for enthusiasts, investors, and professionals keen on staying ahead of the curve in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Hosted by Andrew Musgrave, 'ASX BRIEFS' delves deep into the heart of Australia's financial markets, bringing you insightful conversations with the minds shaping the future of investing down under. Each episode, join Andrew as he interviews a diverse lineup of fund managers, executives, and industry insiders, offering you a unique blend of expert analysis, strategic insights, and the latest trends affecting the ASX. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, 'ASX BRIEFS' is your go-to source for comprehensive updates and thought-provoking discussions designed to inform, inspire, and empower your investment journey. Tune in to 'ASX BRIEFS' and take the pulse of Australia's financial markets right at your fingertips.
ASX BRIEFS
BCAL DIAGNOSTICS LTD (BDX) - A Partnership Aiming To Save Lives By Catching Cancer Earlier Through Accessible Blood Testing
A quiet revolution is happening in cancer screening: a simple blood draw is starting to find what used to hide in plain sight. We sit down with Shane Ryan, CEO of BCAL Diagnostics, to unpack how a Sydney-built breast cancer test is scaling nationwide and why a new exclusive partnership with ClearNote Health could change the game for ovarian and pancreatic detection across Australia and New Zealand.
Shane explains how thousands of donated samples and deep clinician engagement powered BCAL’s breast cancer test from research to real-world use. With Sonic Healthcare enabling local collection close to home, women can access testing without the travel and scheduling hurdles that often delay early screening. From there, we dive into ClearNote’s genomic technology, the high specificity and sensitivity thresholds guiding clinical confidence, and the significance of being selected for the US Vanguard Study—an indicator that the science stands on strong ground.
We also map the road to Q1 CY26: GP and specialist education, laboratory readiness in Sydney, efficient logistics to ClearNote’s California lab, and a results pipeline designed for speed and clarity. The stakes are high—ovarian cancer can reach about 90% five-year survival at stage one, yet overall survival lingers near 49%; pancreatic cancer shows a similar gap, with roughly 80% at stage 1A versus about 13% overall. By making testing accessible and reliable, BCAL aims to move more diagnoses into those early windows when treatment works best.
Finally, Shane shares the 12–18 month plan: accelerate breast test volumes, ramp ovarian and pancreatic launches, and build toward a one‑stop biomarker hub for clinicians, alongside preparation to enter the US breast cancer market. If early detection, practical access, and robust data matter to you or your patients, this conversation brings the strategy into focus. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review telling us which barrier to early screening you want solved next.
Andrew Musgrave
Welcome again to ASX Briefs, where we speak with the leaders from some of the most innovative small and mid-cap companies listed on the ASX, and today we're joined by Shane Ryan, the Chief Executive Officer of BCAL Diagnostics. BCAL is an Australian biotechnology company focused on advancing early and accurate multi-cancer detection. The company recently announced a significant new partnership to bring cutting-edge early cancer detection blood tests for pancreatic and ovarian cancer to Australia and New Zealand. Shane, great to have you here and welcome to the ASX Briefs podcast.
Shane Ryan
Thanks, Andrew. Great to be on the podcast today.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay now, Shane. BCAL has made some significant announcements recently. But first, for investors that may be unfamiliar with the company, can you just provide a quick overview?
Shane Ryan
Yeah, great. Thanks, Andrew. Well, BCAL Diagnostics is based in Sydney. We have a US laboratory as well, but we're focused on developing a blood test for the early detection of breast cancer, which is very innovative and promises to be fantastic for women, not only here in Australia, but globally. So, we're delighted with that. It's come off the back of a lot of research. Thousands of women actually generously giving us their blood samples so that we can develop this test here in Sydney. It's been rolled out in Sydney since March, and things are going well. And we plan to take it to Melbourne, Brisbane, and nationally in the coming months and over 2026. So, a lot of ongoing development in the breast cancer space. And I'll just point people to the BCAL website if they want to learn more.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay. And your recent announcement of an exclusive partnership with ClearNote Health is a major step. So, can you detail what this agreement entails and what led to ClearNote Health selecting BCAL as their exclusive partner for the Australian and New Zealand market?
Shane Ryan: 01:60
Yeah, you know, last things first, I'll address why did ClearNote seek out BCAL from a partnership perspective when they could have chosen any other provider? They were really taken with our ability to connect with the clinical environment and our track record of rolling out a commercial biomarker in the breast cancer space. And collectively, our team and our leadership really stood out to them. So, they're delighted to select us to roll out two very important tests in the oncology setting or the cancer setting. They've developed blood tests similar to what we've done for breasts in the area of ovarian cancer and also pancreatic cancer. And those two tests, those two diseases really benefit from early detection. Ovarian cancer, if it's caught at stage one, has about a five-year survival rate of 90%, which is great. But overall, the five-year survival rate in Australia for women with ovarian cancer is only 49%. So, there's a lot of gains to be made there. And similarly, with pancreatic disease, about an 80% survival rate at five years for people diagnosed with stage 1A. But overall, only 13% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live beyond five years. I think these numbers really speak for themselves. And of course, the message here is that early detection is key. So again, you know, visit the website. We've set up a new website called earlydetection.com.au, and that outlines a bit about these two tests that we're bringing to the market from a uh ClearNote perspective.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay, and as you mentioned, that like diagnosing these two cancers is critical, particularly at an early stage. So, with ClearNote though, what makes their technology so advanced?
Shane Ryan
Yeah, they're real innovators, Andrew. They have a great role in the US where they've originated this the science. They're rolling it out across the world now. I think 70 countries they've entered with their tests. It's genomic based, so it's another biomarker, a simple blood test that then translates into a result from a detection perspective. It's got some great data behind it, so really high specificity, really high sensitivity, and importantly, they've just been requested to participate in a big study in the US called the Vanguard Study. Only two organizations have been requested to participate, and they're one of them. So yeah, they're certainly a stellar, you know, high-class organization. We're delighted to partner with them.
Andrew Musgrave
Now, looking at the Sonic Healthcare Agreement and the breast cancer test, what's unique about this test and how is the rollout going?
Shane Ryan
Yeah, well, we're delighted to be partnering with Sonic. What a great organization. Another Australian icon. And they have been so generous to us, giving us guidance along the way, but importantly, signing an agreement with us to roll out the test nationally through their clinics, which really what that translates to is women can have their tests close to home at their convenience, which is really important for people who are busy and it breaks down those barriers as to why people don't have tests for early detection of cancer. The test itself is rolling out really well. We launched in Sydney, we've been very focused in there, a lot of doctor engagement, a lot of doctor education, but importantly, we've got great feedback about how we can improve things from a logistics perspective and just tailoring the education and engagement so that we can go nationally now, having learned from the Sydney market, and we're really excited about what holds for the next three to six months, Andrew.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay, now in terms of clinical performance, what kind of validation data has ClearNote Health generated for the Avantect tests?
Shane Ryan
Yeah, as I mentioned before, quite high specificity and sensitivity. The specificity greater than 95%. They've been working on this for a number of years in the US. It does take a long time to develop things from innovation through to commercial launch, but they haven't taken any shortcuts. And our team are over there at the moment really learning more about the science and the data. The tests will actually be whilst the blood will be taken here in Australia, we'll manage it through our laboratory in Sydney, but the test itself will actually take place in the US, over in California in the laboratory. So, the results are uh excellent. I want to reassure everyone it's a great test. The doctors we've engaged with in Australia about the test performance has been very positive and really looking forward to bringing this to people in Australia.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay, and the agreement commences in Q1 of CY26. So, what are the steps BCAL will take between now and then to ensure a successful launch? And how will you leverage your existing business?
Shane Ryan
It's a great question. We've really uh making best use of the channels to market that we've already established from a GP engagement and a specialist engagement perspective. And so, you know, that doctor education, working with key opinion leaders in each of those disease processes is really important. We're making sure we've got all the laboratory infrastructure in place that we need to manage the workflow and as I said, the tests will actually be conducted in the US. So, we're just sorting through all of those different logistics we need to do to make sure tests get turned around in a timely way. So, we're really just leveraging all the stuff we've done with the breasts.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay, and Shane, finally, looking ahead, what can investors and clinicians expect from BCAL over the next 12 to 18 months?
Shane Ryan: 08:10
Well, it's a really exciting period ahead, but there's a lot to run at, but we've broken it down into three key focus areas, and that's really about driving the sales and the volumes for our existing tests in breast cancer, really ramping up the pancreatic and ovarian opportunity and becoming effectively a one-stop shop for biomarkers in the cancer screening space for doctors and for patients. So that's going to be our first priority. We're going to continue to bring new exciting um products to the market. So, a lot of work still going on in the breast cancer space. And so that'll be our second priority to really drive that home, accelerate that, and bring more solutions to women here in Australia from a breast cancer perspective. And of course, you know, the future for us is going to be preparing for that launch into the US and taking our breast cancer products into that market, where there's more than 400,000 new breast cancers diagnosed every year. So, there's a big opportunity there to make a huge improvement. So once again, look, if people want to learn more about our program, please go to the website, the BCAL Diagnostics, or the new website earlydetection.com.au, to learn more about the pancreatic and ovarian tests. We're really excited about the next 12 to 18 months, and we hope to share a lot more news uh in the near term.
Andrew Musgrave
Okay, Shane. Well, it's been great to chat today to get an update on the company, and we look forward to further updates from BCAL Diagnostics in the upcoming months.
Shane Ryan
Thanks, Andrew.