Key Highlights

• BCAL Diagnostics Limited (ASX:BDX) has started introducing Avantect Multi-Cancer, a blood-based early cancer detection test, to Australia.

• The Sydney-based healthcare company told the ASX on 23 September 2026 that the rollout begins in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of a planned broader national expansion.

• The test looks for cancer-associated signals in the blood across eight cancers: lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, gastric, oesophageal, breast and colorectal.

• Where a signal is detected, it provides a likely organ-of-origin signal to help guide further investigation.

BCAL Diagnostics Limited (ASX:BDX) has started introducing Avantect Multi-Cancer, a blood-based early cancer detection test, to Australia. The Sydney-based healthcare company told the ASX on 23 September 2026 that the rollout begins in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of a planned broader national expansion.

The test looks for cancer-associated signals in the blood across eight cancers: lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, gastric, oesophageal, breast and colorectal. Where a signal is detected, it provides a likely organ-of-origin signal to help guide further investigation. BCAL said that in a case-control validation study the test showed overall sensitivity of 56.2% and specificity of 98.4% across all analysed cancers. The company also stressed that a result with no signal detected does not exclude cancer.

What BCAL announced

According to the announcement, Avantect Multi-Cancer will be accessed through BCAL's existing national clinical, referral and patient-access infrastructure, following a consultation with a general practitioner or specialist who requests the service. The initial introduction in Sydney and Melbourne is supported through telehealth and in-person consultations.

Blood samples from Australian patients will be collected through BCAL's clinical networks and initially analysed at ClearNote Health's CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory in the United States. BCAL holds an exclusive licence with ClearNote Health, a US precision diagnostics company, for the sale and distribution of the Avantect Pancreatic, Avantect Ovarian and Avantect Multi-Cancer tests in Australia and New Zealand.

BCAL said the phased rollout allows it to build Australian market experience across clinician engagement, patient demand, service delivery, pricing and access pathways before a wider release. Pricing was not disclosed in the announcement.

Understanding the performance numbers

The two headline figures describe different things. Sensitivity measures how often a test detects cancer in people who have it, while specificity measures how often it correctly returns no signal in people who do not.

BCAL said the reported results were derived from a large case-control study using non-cancer controls, run by ClearNote Health, with sensitivity and specificity reported across all cancer stages combined and for each cancer individually. A specificity of 98.4% indicates a low rate of false-positive signals in that study population. A sensitivity of 56.2%, however, means that a little over half of the cancers in the study were detected overall.

The company was explicit about the limits. It said a result with no signal detected does not exclude cancer, and that the test complements established cancer screening programs and other clinically recommended investigations rather than replacing them. Case-control studies also compare people already known to have cancer with healthy controls, which is different from testing a general population in routine practice, so real-world performance may differ.

What the CEO said

BCAL CEO Anne-Louise Arnett said: "The direction of cancer diagnostics is increasingly toward earlier, less-invasive detection, and blood-based testing has a role to play in that shift."

She added that Avantect Multi-Cancer "expands our commercial portfolio and provides an opportunity to Leverage our existing national infrastructure to build a broader early detection business."

A four-test portfolio

With this addition, BCAL now offers four blood-based early cancer detection services: BREASTESTplus, Avantect Ovarian, Avantect Pancreatic and Avantect Multi-Cancer.

BREASTESTplus was BCAL's first test, launched as a rule-out test designed for use in the clinical evaluation of breast disease for women with dense breasts, alongside mammography. The company said Avantect Multi-Cancer complements its cancer-specific Avantect Ovarian and Pancreatic tests, and that it is working to bring the full analysis of this portfolio into its commercial clinical laboratory in Sydney.

How BCAL got here

That report said the agreement had an initial two-year term commencing in the first quarter of 2026, with an option to extend.

In March 2026, BCAL announced pathology partnerships with Sonic Healthcare and the Healius pathology network to support the distribution of its Avantect Pancreatic and Ovarian tests, according to coverage by StockWireX.

For investors watching ASX shares in the diagnostics and healthcare sector, the launch adds another Revenue line to a small company that is still building commercial scale. Multi-cancer early detection is an area of growing global interest, as developers seek blood tests that can flag several cancer types from a single sample, including cancers such as pancreatic and ovarian that are often diagnosed late.

Risks and considerations

Several uncertainties remain. The announcement does not disclose pricing, expected test volumes or revenue, so the commercial contribution of the new test is not yet clear. BCAL itself described the rollout as a way to test clinician engagement, patient demand, pricing and access pathways, indicating that uptake is still to be established.

Samples will initially be sent to ClearNote Health's US laboratory, which introduces reliance on an offshore partner and on logistics until analysis is brought into BCAL's Sydney laboratory, a step for which no timeline was given. Performance figures come from a case-control study and may not reflect results in routine clinical use, and the moderate overall sensitivity means clinicians and patients will need to interpret negative results carefully. The Business also depends on its licensing arrangements with ClearNote Health.

What comes next

BCAL said the Sydney and Melbourne introduction will precede broader national expansion, and that it is working to bring analysis of its test portfolio into its Sydney laboratory. Clinical information for doctors and patients on accessing the test is available at earlydetection.com.au, the company said. Further detail on rollout progress in September 2026 and beyond is likely to come through future market updates.

The bottom line

BCAL Diagnostics has added a multi-cancer blood test to its Australian early detection portfolio, beginning with a phased Sydney and Melbourne rollout. The company positions the test as a complement to established screening, not a replacement, and its commercial impact will depend on clinician and patient uptake in the months ahead.