Capsule/Pill-based Colonoscopy Preps in some instances may cause stomach and intestinal irritation despite their improved tolerability over traditional colonoscopy preps. Dark Canyon has developed technology to mitigate these issues and has applied for patents to cover this novel technology - WO2024229373A1 WIPO (PCT)
AI Technology Shows Promise for Pre-Colonoscopy Assessment of Cleansing Adequacy
Four independent groups have now demonstrated the feasibility of using computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) on a smart phone camera to assess colon cleansing before colonoscopy. This technology can allow people to assess the adequacy of their colonoscopy preparation in the privacy of their own home just before traveling to their colonoscopy appointment. This technology can potentially allow people to adjust the amount of colonoscopy prep solution they must drink such that their colon is adequately cleansed. People will drink just the right amount of cleansing solution they need but no more, and no less. Scalability, or the ability to adjust preparation dose up or down will become more important.
References:
1. Service system and method for Bowel preparation. Korean Patent Grant 2014 KR101593787B1
2. Jung, Jae Won, et al. "The effectiveness of personalized bowel preparation using a smartphone camera application: a randomized pilot study." Gastroenterology research and practice (2017): 4898914.
3. Lu, Yang-Bor, et al. "A novel convolutional neural network model as an alternative approach to bowel preparation evaluation before colonoscopy in the COVID-19 era: a multicenter, single-blinded, randomized study." Journal of the American College of Gastroenterology| ACG 117:(2022): 1437-1443.
4. Zhu, Yan, et al. "Improving bowel preparation for colonoscopy with a smartphone application driven by artificial intelligence." NPJ Digital Medicine 6.1 (2023): 41.
5. Gimeno-García, Antonio Z., et al. "Design and validation of an artificial intelligence system to detect the quality of colon cleansing before colonoscopy." Gastroenterología y Hepatología 47.5 (2024): 481-490.
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal Cancer kills over 50,000 Americans every year, but it is a preventable disease with proper screening. Regular screening should begin at age 45. Due to the COVID pandemic over the last two years, rates of screening for colorectal cancer have plummeted.
Screening for colorectal cancer can save your life. Don’t wait. Get screened now!
Dark Canyon Labs is working on developing a safe and effective taste-free pill prep, with dosing that can be customized for each patient. Our goal is to make the process of prepping for a colonoscopy much better for patients and healthcare professionals alike, to save more lives. Get screened and prevent colorectal cancer!
Dark Canyon Labs Welcomes Dr. Audrey Calderwood to the Advisory Board
Dark Canyon Labs is very pleased to announce the addition of Audrey Calderwood, MD, MS to the Advisory Board. Dr. Calderwood, a gastroenterologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth, is a well known leader in the field of colonoscopy preparation, and is funded by the NIH to study colonoscopy preparation. She was instrumental in the development and validation of the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale, which is now the accepted standard for assessing the cleanliness of the colon at the time of the colonoscopy procedure.
We welcome her expertise to the Advisory Board as we move forward with DCL-101, our taste-free colonoscopy pill prep and its associated AI technology.
Read more about Dr. Calderwood here.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal Cancer kills over 50,000 Americans every year, but it is a preventable disease with proper screening. Regular screening should begin at age 45. Due to the COVID pandemic over the last year, rates of screening for colorectal cancer have plummeted.
Screening for colorectal cancer can save your life. Don’t wait. Get screened now!
Dark Canyon Labs is working on developing a safe and effective taste-free pill prep, with dosing that can be customized for each patient. Our goal is to make the process of prepping for a colonoscopy much better for patients and healthcare professionals alike, to save more lives. Get screened and prevent colorectal cancer!
For additional information about screening and colorectal cancer:
Dark Canyon Labs Announces Positive Phase 2 Trial Results for Taste-Free Colonoscopy Prep, DCL-101, in Peer-Reviewed Publication
Dark Canyon Labs is excited to announce publication of positive Phase 2 results in Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. View the entire article here.
Study Highlights
What is known:
The gold standard for colonoscopy prep safety and efficacy is 4L polyethylene glycol-electrolyte solution (PEG-ELS).
40% of patients have known risk factors for a suboptimal prep, and 4L PEG-ELS is recommended for this population.
The tolerability of 4L PEG-ELS is limited by its taste and volume.
What is new here:
DCL-101 is a novel pill-based colonoscopy prep that is taste-free and compositionally identical to 4L PEG-ELS. Safety and efficacy of DCL-101 appear to be similar to 4L PEG-ELS.
DCL-101 is significantly better tolerated than 4L PEG-ELS. 87% of patients found DCL-101 to have “no taste” or “good taste.” The vast majority of patients found DCL-101 “easy to take,” and experienced far less dread during the prep.
Palatability has a large impact on overall colon prep tolerability.
Dark Canyon Labs Strengthens U.S. Patent for Novel Taste-Free Pill Prep, DCL-101
Dark Canyon Laboratories, LLC is pleased to report that we have received “Notice of Allowance” from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Continuation of our Divisional Colon Lavage System patent for the Novel DCL-101 Taste-Free Pill Prep.
This addition further strengthens the intellectual property portfolio defining our novel colonoscopy preparation technology.
The newly expanded U.S. patent joins a comprehensive list of patents already issued to Dark Canyon Labs in Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the EU for a novel Colon Lavage System.
Isn't it time for a better colonoscopy prep?
Dark Canyon Labs Granted Hong Kong Patent for DCL-101 Taste-Free Pill Prep
Dark Canyon Labs was granted Hong Kong Patent No. 1167572 for development of a novel Colon Lavage System on May 22, 2020.
Dark Canyon Labs is especially pleased to announce that this Hong Kong Patent for DCL-101, a novel taste-free pill prep, used for colonoscopy preparation, joins patents for DCL-101 already issued in the US, Japan, Australia, Canada, China and the EU.
EU Patent Granted to Dark Canyon Labs
Dark Canyon Labs was notified of intention to grant European Union Patent No. EP2421373 for development of a novel Colon Lavage System on April 15, 2019.
Dark Canyon Labs is especially pleased to announce that this EU Patent for DCL-101, a novel taste-free pill prep, used for colonoscopy preparation, joins patents for DCL-101 already issued in the US, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China. Patent is pending in Hong Kong.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women in the United States, and kills over 50,000 people annually. Colorectal cancer can be prevented by getting screened.
Historically, one of the obstacles of getting a screening colonoscopy has been the bad taste and tolerability of the colonoscopy prep, which must be taken prior to the procedure. Dark Canyon Labs has developed a new colonoscopy prep, DCL-101, which is a taste-free pill prep. A Phase 2 clinical trial was successfully completed, with Phase 3 to begin in the near future.
Dark Canyon Labs is determined to make a safe and effective taste-free pill prep available for patients. Our goal is to make the process of prepping for a colonoscopy much easier and to increase colonoscopy screening rates, thereby saving lives. Get screened and prevent colorectal cancer!
For more information, visit the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Phase 2 Results of Dark Canyon Labs' Novel Pill Prep DCL-101 Selected as one of the "Most Innovative and Impactful Abstracts at ACG 2018"
The American College of Gastroenterology’s (ACG) Innovation & Technology Committee recently selected 22 abstracts as the “Most Innovative and Impactful Abstracts at ACG 2018”, from over 2600 abstracts that were presented at the ACG’s annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, PA in October 2018.
Dark Canyon Labs’ presentation of Phase 2 study results of the Novel Pill Prep, DCL-101, was selected as one of the “Most Innovative and Impactful Abstracts at ACG 2018.”
The ACG Innovation & Technology Committee is a forum that allows members to gather information about new ideas, innovations and technologies in gastroenterology. Selecting the “Most Innovative and Impactful Abstracts at ACG 2018” allowed the Committee to highlight the clinical significance and importance of emerging technologies in gastroenterology.
Dark Canyon Labs to present at ACG 2018
Dale Bachwich, MD from Dark Canyon Labs will be presenting Phase 2 Data for the novel colonoscopy pill prep DCL-101 at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) in Philadelphia, PA on October 9, 2018.
For additional information, contact darkcanyonlabs@me.com
Dark Canyon Labs announces completion of Phase 2 Clinical Trial
Dark Canyon Labs is pleased to announce the completion of a multicenter, randomized, investigator blinded, non-inferiority Phase 2 Clinical Trial. DCL-101, a novel Pill Prep, was compared to standard split-dose GoLYTELY® in adult outpatients undergoing routine colonoscopy.
Based on tolerability, safety, and efficacy results, Dark Canyon Labs is excited to announce that DCL-101 will move ahead for further evaluation in two definitive Phase 3 trials.
Watch for additional details soon. For more information, contact darkcanyonlabs@me.com
Dark Canyon Labs announces start of Phase 2 Clinical Trial in December 2016
Dark Canyon Labs is pleased to announce that subject enrollment begins in December for a Phase 2 trial comparing the safety and efficacy of DCL-101 vs. GoLYTELY® in preparing the bowel for routine colonoscopy. DCL-101 is Dark Canyon Labs' novel capsule prep that eliminates the need to drink the salty-tasting solution of other preps, completely transforming the patient experience. GoLYTELY® is the current gold standard bowel prep in terms of efficacy, so will be used as the comparator.
The trial is now listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the National Institutes of Health.
To learn more about enrolling in the clinical trial, please contact Philip Calvillo from Robarts Clinical Trials, at 626-658-0870 or Philip.Calvillo@robartsinc.com