BD Partners with Camtech Health to Increase Access to Cervical Cancer Screening in Singapore

First-Ever Program in the Country to Offer At-Home Self-Collection of Samples for HPV Testing

SINGAPORE, Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced a strategic partnership with Camtech Health, a digital health company focused on at-home health testing, to advance cervical cancer screening by offering the first-ever option for women in Singapore to self-collect a sample in the privacy of their own home.

The program combines the Camtech Health HPV (human papillomavirus) test for self-collection with the BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay, which is a clinically validated test that can simultaneously detect 14 high-risk HPV strains (or "genotypes"). The program objective is to improve the rate of cervical cancer screening in Singapore, where less than half of eligible women are currently being tested.

"For women in Singapore, lack of time, embarrassment, fear and inconvenience are among the key barriers to screeningⁱ, and before now, Singapore only offered HPV testing via hospital or clinic settings with a speculum examination and a clinician collection," stated Dr. Jeff Andrews, vice president of Global Medical Affairs at BD. "Cervical cancer is preventable, precancer is curable, and programs like this help to support the national goal of cervical cancer elimination. Not only does self-collection afford women greater access to HPV testing by enabling them to collect a sample in privacy at a time and place of their choosing, but they can also feel confident that the reliability of self-collected samples is comparable to those collected by a clinicianⁱⁱ." 

In late 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, recognizing the potential to virtually eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat, recognizing the potential to eliminate cervical cancer in our lifetimeⁱⁱⁱ. The strategy established clear targets to achieve by 2030 for HPV vaccination coverage (>90%), screening coverage (>70%) and access to treatment (>90%). 

At-home collection can help address the urgent public health challenge of reaching women who do not attend routine cervical cancer screening.

• Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020.^iv
• Almost all cervical cancer cases (more than 95%) are caused by a persistent HPV infection, an extremely common virus transmitted through sexual contact.ⁱ
• In Singapore, cervical cancer ranks as the 10th most frequent cancer among women and the 4th most frequent cancer among women between 30 and 39 years of age.^v
• Cervical cancer screening among all women in Singapore aged 25 – 74 decreased by 17% between 2007 and 2019; from 58% to 48%.^vi
• Among those aged 25-29, the decline has been more precipitous—from nearly 50% in 2007 to only 21% in 2019.^v

"Making at-home self-collection available is the first step to empowering health and well-being, but making the test easy to use is just as important," said Kuok Meng-Han, Chairman of Camtech Health. "The Camtech Health HPV test with the Camtech Health app is completed in simple steps and then sent via postage-paid packaging provided in the kit. The sample is analyzed using the BD Onclarity™ HPV assay, and the BD Viper™ LT fully automated integrated molecular testing system, and physician-reviewed results are provided on the app with a virtual consultation to discuss any abnormalities." 

HPVs are a large group of related viruses. Each virus in the group is given a number, which is called an HPV genotype^vii (or "type"). BD Onclarity™ is the only FDA-approved assay that tests for an extended set of HPV types individually, and particularly for HPV52 and HPV33/58, three HPV types that pose a high-risk for causing cervical cancer in Singapore. Most clinically validated tests report multiple HPV types in a single pooled result, which can mask the true risk of developing cervical cancer. Being able to identify the high-risk genotypes that are prevalent in cervical cancers in the country is critical to the detection and prevention of cervical cancer.

"Providing women the ability to self-collect in the convenience of their own home is critical to improving their access to cervical cancer screening, and empowering women to take charge of their own health, especially among underserved communities in Singapore who might be deterred from seeking healthcare," said Dr. Ida Ismail-Pratt, Advisor of the Alliance for Active Action against HPV (A4HPV), a youth-led non-profit committed to increasing awareness about HPV and its related cancers, by working on effective strategies for equitable and affordable cervical cancer screening access across the Commonwealth. "With less than 50% of women in Singapore regularly screening for cervical cancer, it is heartening that this self-collection option is finally available in Singapore for the first time. We hope that this additional option will help Singapore to reach the WHO's cervical cancer screening goal of 70% by 2030, and truly leaving no one behind.''

Combining HPV self-collection with an assay that individually identified more kinds of HPV allows clinicians to focus on those women at highest risk while not overtreating those at very low risk by allowing risk stratification directly on the screening sample^VI. The BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay received the industry's first CE Mark for HPV screening from at-home self-collected vaginal samples.

Camtech Health is a digital health company that is focused on empowering people across Singapore and Southeast Asia to take control of their health and well-being and lead healthier and fuller lives. Camtech does this by integrating multiple disciplines to deliver a seamless sample-to-insight testing experience using home self-collection test kits – all in the convenience and comfort of their own home. For more information or to order the Camtech Health HPV Test, please visit www.camtech-health.com/health-tests or download the Camtech Health App (available on iOS and Android). The home self-collection kits are also available through SOG Health, a leading healthcare service provider dedicated to holistic health and wellness services to the modern family with a long and established track record in Singapore providing Obstetrics and Gynecology services. https://www.sog.com.sg/about-sog/

About BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay
The BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay detects and identifies 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types in a single analysis and provides genotyping information from specimens collected for cervical cancer screening purposes using both BD SurePath™ Preservative Fluid  and  Hologic PreservCyt® Solution, as well as in the Cervical Brush Diluent tube (not approved in the United States). The assay is for use in accordance with clinical guidelines and within the scope of local regulatory authorizations as part of a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer screening. The BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay has FDA approval for clinical use in cytology-based screening with ASC-US triage, in co-testing paradigm, and in primary HPV screening. The assay has also met international criteria for primary HPV screening. BD Onclarity™ HPV Assay has FDA approval for use in vaccinated women. As the previously vaccinated subpopulation ages, the screening population will progressively include women with reduced prevalence of HPV 16 and 18, increasing the value of extended genotype reporting in a mixed population of vaccinated and unvaccinated women. Visit bd.com and pages.bd.com/extended-genotyping to learn more.

About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its more than 70,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/bd1/, X (formerly Twitter) @BDandCo or Instagram @becton_dickinson

ⁱ Chua B, et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 26;18(9):4586.

ⁱⁱ Arbyn, M. et al. (2018) Detecting cervical precancer and reaching underscreened women by using HPV testing on self samples: updated meta-analyses. Bmj 363, k4823; Cadman, L. et al. (2021) A randomised comparison of different vaginal self-sampling devices and urine for human papillomavirus testing - Predictors 5.1. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Published Online First on January 29, 2021; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-1226; Rohner, E. et al. (2020) Test Accuracy of Human Papillomavirus in Urine for Detection of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia. J Clin Microbiol 58 (3)

ⁱⁱⁱ https://www.who.int/news/item/17-11-2020-a-cervical-cancer-free-future-first-ever-global-commitment-to-eliminate-a-cancer 

^iv https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer 

^v https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/default-document-library/scr-ar-2021-web-report.pdf?sfvrsn=591fc02c_0 

^vi National Population Health Survey 2019, ISBN 978-981-14-5641-1. Epidemiology & Disease Control Division and Policy, Research & Surveillance Group, Ministry of Health and Health Promotion Board, Singapore.

^vii https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/hpv/hpv-and-cancer-info.html

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SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)