THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
BENGALURU,
JULY 7, 2026
In a significant
breakthrough for cancer diagnostics, Reliance Industries Ltd's subsidiary,
Strand Life Sciences, has secured an Indian patent for its integrated cell-free
DNA (cfDNA)-based platform designed to detect cancer at an early stage through
a simple blood test. The technology combines advanced genome sequencing,
methylation and fragmentomic analysis, and artificial intelligence to identify
the presence of cancer and predict its tissue of origin with high precision.
The newly granted
patent covers an end-to-end platform that integrates high-quality genome
sequencing, stringent quality control, biologically informed methylation and
fragmentomic feature extraction, and machine learning algorithms to enable
early cancer detection from a blood sample. The platform is also capable of
identifying the tissue of origin, an important factor in guiding further
diagnosis and treatment.
A key innovation
protected by the patent lies in its ability to accurately capture genome-wide
methylation patterns — one of the defining biological signatures of cancer — through
genome sequencing with minimal data loss or failure. This significantly
enhances the sensitivity of detecting cancer at an early stage, when treatment
is most effective.
Cancer continues to
pose a major public health challenge in India, with more than 1.5 million new
cases estimated every year. A substantial proportion of patients are diagnosed
only after the disease has progressed to advanced stages, limiting treatment
options and reducing survival outcomes. Early detection has the potential to
transform cancer care by enabling timely intervention.
The company noted
that current guideline-based screening programmes cover only a limited range of
cancers and are difficult to scale across large populations. With the declining
cost of genome sequencing, the patented platform has the potential to
facilitate population-scale cancer screening without requiring significant
expansion of local healthcare infrastructure.
"Early detection is an increasingly relevant topic as cancer is becoming one of India's greatest public health challenges. This patent reflects our commitment to developing scientifically rigorous, AI-enabled liquid biopsy technologies that can help detect cancer earlier from a simple blood sample. We believe this innovation represents an important step towards making precision cancer screening more accurate, scalable, and accessible," said Ramesh Hariharan, CEO, Strand Life Sciences.
The patent further strengthens Strand Life Sciences' intellectual property portfolio in the fast-evolving field of liquid biopsy and reinforces the company's long-term strategy of developing integrated, AI-enabled molecular technologies for early cancer detection and precision oncology. The development is expected to bolster its position in advancing next-generation cancer diagnostics and expanding access to precision healthcare solutions.
