Mainz Biomed N.V. announced a research collaboration with Microba Life Sciences. As part of the agreement, Microba and Mainz Biomed will conduct a pilot research project utilizing Microba's proprietary metagenomic sequencing technology and bioinformatic tools to potentially discover novel microbiome biomarkers for pancreatic cancer detection. Pancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas with one of the higher mortality rates of all major cancers.

Each year, about 466,000 lives are taken globally, and it's the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. It has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with typically late detection and poor outcomes with standard of care treatment(s). The 5-year overall survival rate is approximately 11% in the U.S. and 9% globally.

However, if diagnosis occurs in the early stages of the disease, the survival rate is significantly higher. The project is expected to run through late 2023 and will deploy Microba's Community Profiler (MCP), Microba's unique metagenomic platform technology. MCP has been established as a best-in-class research tool with the ability to produce comprehensive and accurate species profiles of human gastrointestinal samples.

Mainz Biomed is currently commercializing its product ColoAlert, a highly efficacious and easy-to-use detection test for colorectal cancer (CRC) in select international territories and in December of 2022, initiated a U.S. Pivotal Clinical Study (ReconAAsense) for a CRC screening test that may integrate the Company's portfolio of novel gene expression (mRNA) biomarkers. These biomarkers have demonstrated potential to identify advanced adenomas, a type of curable pre-cancerous polyp often attributed to CRC that are being evaluated in European and U.S. studies (ColoFuture/eAArly DETECT). Results from eAArly DETECT are expected in mid-2023 and Mainz anticipates enrollment in ReconAAsense to commence in the second half of 2023.