Petco-backed $997 dog cancer test venture believed to be belly-up
PetDx tells veterinarians to dispose of samples "due to funding constraints"

PetDx, the Petco-backed San Diego-based parent company of OncoK9, which makes a liquid biopsy cancer test for dogs, told veterinarians earlier this week to dispose of its samples “due to funding constraints.”
“I think PetDx has run out of money and is not doing cancer screening anymore,” a source in the veterinary community told TCR, referring to an email PetDx sent veterinary oncologists around the country on March 6 (the email is quoted in full below).

Dr. Daniel Grosu, founder and chairman of the board of PetDx, did not return TCR’s multiple requests seeking comment, including about the email his company issued veterinarians or about a “rumor” that PetDx had laid off all employees March 7.

Petco CEO Ron Coughlin did not respond to TCR’s request for comment on Friday, including to our question about the status of Petco’s investment in PetDx.

In May 2021, Petco and OncoK9 issued a joint press release touting the OncoK9 cancer tests as a “groundbreaking multi-cancer early detection test for dogs,” available at 31 select “full-service” Petco veterinary clinics around the continental U.S. However, the announcement made no mention of the $599 price tag for the “groundbreaking” product. In fact, just over one year following the press announcement, this reporter discovered a sticker price of $997 when she ordered the test for her own dog in Manhattan through Idexx.

When TCR asked Dr. Daniel Grosu, MD, to discuss the accuracy rate of the cancer test in 2021, Dr. Grosu said in an email, “OncoK9 detects approximately 50% of cancer cases when used as a screening test at a single time point.” Dr. Grosu declined to specify the false positive rate — the percentage of tests that will result inaccurately in an indication of cancer.

From: PetDx Communication <noreply@petdx.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 1:00:30 PM
To: PetDx Communication <noreply@petdx.com>
Subject: PetDx no longer accepting samples

Dear Customer:
We sincerely appreciate your support for PetDx and OncoK9® testing.  As you are aware, PetDx developed OncoK9® with the vision of making early cancer detection possible and simple for veterinarians and their patients.
Unfortunately, due to funding constraints, we had to make the difficult decision to stop processing OncoK9® samples as of today, March 6th, 2024.  Samples that have not been reported will not incur charges. Please dispose of your unused kits.

 

We will update this story as more information comes in.

 

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