IIQ - Ovarian cancer diagnostic improves but broader dataset not included in the results

Our biotech Investment INOVIQ (ASX: IIQ) has now delivered results from the two catalysts we were looking forward to this year:

1. An update on its ovarian cancer diagnostic product, and
2. Last week IIQ results from its pre-clinical ovarian cancer therapeutic.

We covered those results which were positive against the commonly tested against cancer cells and also against a more aggressive form: IIQ kills up to 90% of ovarian cancer cells in lab tests

Today's announcement was for IIQ’s diagnostic product and it was a bit of a mixed result.

The positive:

IIQ was able to fine tune the diagnostic product on the original 500-sample dataset (the same samples behind its June 2025 breakthrough).

The new results show IIQ ovarian cancer test has:

• Very high sensitivity for stage I/II ovarian cancer (92.3%) (sensitivity means how good the test is at correctly picking up the people who actually have the cancer - and stage I/II is usually the hardest stage when patients usually have no symptoms)
• 92.5% sensitivity across all stages (1 to 4). (So very few real cancers slipped through undetected)
• With overall 98% specificity (specificity measures how good the test is at correctly clearing the people who don't have the cancer. At 98%, only about 2% of healthy women would get a false alarm (a "false positive").

Ovarian cancer is notorious for being difficult to detect early, current tests are usually done once symptoms are showing which is usually at a much more advanced cancer stage.

(source)

Now the disappointing part:

Unfortunately the bigger set of samples that IIQ was testing its diagnostic product over was declared unsuitable to be evaluated against IIQ's test.

So basically, IIQ did a bunch of work, the market expected data from a bigger sample set BUT IIQ wasn't able to deliver any results.

(The market hates uncertainty and so it has punished IIQ for the announcement - IIQ is currently down ~50% as of writing.)

IIQ said that one biorepository which supplied 616 of the ~1,200 samples, including 69% of the cancer cases had degraded, with reduced protein and miRNA levels.

There was also significant variability across all five commercial biorepositories used, driven by differences in how each site collected and handled the blood.

IIQ now plans to run future studies using samples collected under its own standardised protocol.

IIQ said it remains committed to commercialising EXO-OC first as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) in the US, before developing it into a screening test (IVD).

Last week we covered the first of the two catalysts we were expecting, that one on the treatment side:IIQ's exosomes killing up to 90% of ovarian cancer cells in the lab.

What's next for IIQ

Here is a quick summary of the key catalysts we will be watching out for over the coming months:

Ovarian Cancer Test

• 🔄 Secure a partner / physical lab for clinical validation studies.
• 🔄 Secure breakthrough device designation

Solid Tumour Therapy

• ✅ First in vitro (lab) ovarian cancer-killing data for the therapy (Today)
• 🔄 Triple Negative Breast Cancer therapeutic data (Q3 2026),

We think the following slide from the IIQ investor presentation summarises the key share price catalysts pretty well:

(source)