# Hawkeye Bio and HealthQuest Esoterics Launch LEAP Blood Test for Early Lung Cancer Detection

> Hawkeye Bio and HealthQuest Esoterics released LEAP, a self-pay blood test for early lung cancer detection with 95% sensitivity.

- Published: 2026-10-26T19:25:41+00:00
- Section: Product Launches
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-26/hawkeye-bio-leap-lung-cancer-blood-test
- Source: [EIN Presswire](https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/951099751/hawkeye-bio-and-healthquest-esoterics-announce-leap-blood-test-availability-to-support-early-lung-cancer-detection)

## Key takeaways

- Hawkeye Bio and HealthQuest Esoterics announced the availability of the LEAP blood test for early lung cancer detection.
- LEAP showed 95% sensitivity across all lung cancer stages and subtypes in HealthQuest's independent validation.
- LEAP is available as a self-pay laboratory-developed test, is not covered by insurance and has not been cleared or approved by the FDA.

Hawkeye Bio and HealthQuest Esoterics announced the availability of the LEAP blood test for early lung cancer detection, a self-pay laboratory-developed test that is not FDA-cleared and not covered by insurance. The companies announced the test on October 26, 2026, according to [EIN Presswire](https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/951099751/hawkeye-bio-and-healthquest-esoterics-announce-leap-blood-test-availability-to-support-early-lung-cancer-detection).

## How the LEAP Blood Test Works

[HealthQuest Esoterics](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0006z2t/healthquest-esoterics) independently validated LEAP's clinical performance within the formal analytic validation of the commercial test. The study demonstrated 95% sensitivity across all lung cancer stages and subtypes, and the test has a projected negative predictive value of 99.9% in the intended use population. LEAP is intended to provide early biological information for additional physician assessment alongside guideline-recommended low-dose CT screening, and a negative result does not rule out lung cancer.

"Our goal is to help more people find lung cancer early, when the opportunity for curative treatment is greatest," said André de Fusco, CEO and co-founder of [Hawkeye Bio](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000lyn/hawkeye-bio). "HealthQuest brings the laboratory expertise, established operations and physician support needed to translate our biosensor technology into a dependable clinical service."

Paul Dempsey, chief science officer and co-founder of Hawkeye Bio, said LEAP measures patterns of protease activity associated with lung cancer, providing a different view of disease biology from tests that measure biomarker quantity alone. Tom Giancursio, CEO of HealthQuest Esoterics, said the company's role is to make validated innovations practical to order and deliver through dependable testing, coordinated specimen collection and support for physicians. Healthcare providers can request ordering instructions, specimen requirements, current self-pay pricing and clinical information by contacting the companies.

## Hawkeye Bio's Biosensor Platform

Hawkeye Bio was granted U.S. Patent No. 12,461,102 in March 2026 covering the pristine graphene-based biosensor platform for protease biomarker detection, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The company shifted its commercialization strategy in May 2024 to in vitro diagnostics kits for lung cancer screening, targeting healthcare systems in China and Europe, after publishing Nature Communications Medicine data showing 90% Stage I detection at 82% specificity. Hawkeye Bio was founded in 2019, is privately held, and has two funding rounds on record, including a December 2019 convertible note of $9 million.

## Other Lung Cancer Screening Launches

Freenome launched SimpleScreen Lung on October 20, 2026, a blood-based lung cancer screening test for adults 50-80 with a 20 pack-year or greater smoking history, showing 85% sensitivity at 50% specificity and a 99.8% negative predictive value in an independent cohort, [Stock Titan](https://www.stocktitan.net/news/FRNM/freenome-expands-personalized-cancer-detection-portfolio-launching-uc1nbfogsmcf.html) reported. BGI Genomics promoted COLOTECT, a non-invasive stool methylation test for colorectal cancer screening in Latin America, on October 22, 2026, [News-Medical](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20261022/BGI-Genomics-smarter-stool-testing-detects-colorectal-cancer-across-Latin-America.aspx) reported. Actorius Innovations and Research launched OncoDiscover, India's first CDSCO-approved circulating tumour cell assay, on October 24, 2026, [The Tribune](https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/three-standards-one-purpose-actorius-raises-the-bar-for-cancer-diagnostics-in-india) reported.

## Companies in this story

- [Hawkeye Bio company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000lyn/hawkeye-bio) · website: https://www.hawkeyebio.com
- [HealthQuest Esoterics company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0006z2t/healthquest-esoterics) · website: https://www.hqesoterics.com

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