“We can't rest on current standards of care. It’s scary to push innovation and implement new technologies, but we've got to embrace the change so that we can improve care for all women.”
It’s been almost ten years since Dr. Tina Rinker and her colleagues realized they’d discovered a way to detect the presence of breast cancer from blood. They couldn’t have fully understood the journey they were about to embark on that day, but they knew one thing for sure — the team would do whatever it took to make the test available to as many women as possible.
We sat down with Dr. Rinker to discuss Syantra’s journey up until today, from that first result in a university research lab to a biotechnology company with reach across the globe. Here’s what she had to say.
What are your goals for the next year or so?
Syantra’s main priorities over the next year are twofold: To expand test access and grow clinical study data.
I mentioned the expansion to Europe, but we definitely want to ensure women can access the test here in Canada. We have a new nationwide partner, Calian, and they’re helping us make the test more available to women across the country. We’re also onboarding additional laboratory partners to collect test samples and get them to our lab in Calgary.
Our clinical study work will expand to investigate specific populations and implementation scenarios, ones that are of interest to patients, clinicians and reimbursement organizations. For example, how does the test work in populations who have elevated risk or who have already experienced breast cancer?
The future looks very exciting. Our technology’s high performance has given us the validation we need to pursue the full potential of our approach. So there are very exciting times ahead. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
What do you see as the biggest challenge ahead?
Establishing a new test with new technology is a challenging task. Many people don’t realize that to be successful you have to take a business approach, meaning it takes money, partners and lots of persistence to provide the information and logistics required to achieve implementation.
We’ve had a lot of support from individuals and organizations over the past few years, which has played a huge role in our company’s growth. And as we hire new team members and expand to other jurisdictions, the resources needed will continue to grow in turn.
It’s been nine years since the research team realized that preliminary data supported the validity of a blood test for breast cancer screening. Did you have any idea of the journey ahead at that point?
No [laughs].
What has surprised you most of all about this journey?
I've been working in research for over two decades now, always with one eye on what the commercialization of an innovative technology would look like. And when the data showed that this test worked, it was like a light bulb went off. I mean, we were actually able to detect breast cancer with a blood test. I remember saying, ‘We need to do whatever it takes to get this test implemented because it can save lives.’ That was the moment everything shifted into the unknown — suddenly this was no longer a research project. We needed to embrace the journey to achieve an approved test. And since that point, I certainly have learned a lot about all the different aspects of bringing an in-vitro diagnostic product to the market. And I’m still learning every day.
What inspires you to keep pushing this forward?
What inspires me is definitely the outcomes, improving outcomes for women. Because we need new tools in this area. We can't rest on current standards of care. It’s scary to push innovation and implement new technologies, but we've got to embrace change so that we can improve care for all women.
