SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocept, Inc.
(NASDAQ: BIOC), a leading commercial provider of liquid biopsy
tests designed to provide physicians with clinically actionable
information to improve the outcomes of cancer patients, announces
that three scientific and medical abstracts featuring the Company's
Target Selector™ liquid biopsy platform have been accepted for
publication at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology
(ASCO) Annual Meeting being held June 2-6,
2017 in Chicago.
The Company will also launch its "AND" marketing campaign
for its proprietary liquid biopsy service at ASCO. The "AND"
campaign focuses on the benefits of using liquid biopsy in addition
to tissue biopsy to rapidly identify clinically actionable
biomarkers in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
patients. Representatives from Biocept will be available on the
ASCO Exhibition Floor at Booth #25160 to discuss the unique
benefits of biomarker testing with Target Selector™ liquid biopsy
assays.
"In a large percentage of metastatic NSCLC patients, the
patient's mutational status from tissue is not available at the
time key treatment decisions need to be made. This means that a
significant number of these patients will not get the benefit of
being qualified for target therapies," said Giuseppe Giaccone, M.D., Ph.D., Associate
Director for Clinical Research, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer
Center, Georgetown University.
"Biocept's liquid biopsy tests offer a non-invasive method that can
complement tissue biopsy to help qualify more patients for targeted
therapy, which has potential to improve treatment outcomes."
"The body of clinical evidence supporting the utility of our
Target Selector™ testing platform continues to grow, and I am
looking forward to discussing our published abstracts, as well as
other study data with physicians at this year's ASCO meeting,"
stated Veena Singh, M.D., Senior
Vice President and Medical Director at Biocept. "Our aim is to help
oncologists identify clinically actionable biomarkers as rapidly as
possible with our precision diagnostics, which can enable treatment
decisions that are better informed."
Abstracts featuring Biocept's Target Selector™ Testing Platform
at ASCO include the following:
- "Clinical experience in ctDNA profiling of 2,000 NSCLC
cases using Target Selector™ demonstrates high sensitivity"
- Testing of 2,000 patient samples with Biocept's Target Selector™
assays detected EGFR mutations at a very high level of
sensitivity, down to 1 mutant copy/ml in advanced NSCLC patients at
frequencies consistent with cited U.S. prevalence rates.
- "ctDNA detection of EGFR mutations in NSCLC patients
using Target Selector™" - Results from a 53-patient study
demonstrate detection of activating EGFR mutations (Exon 19
deletions and L858R) and the resistance EGFR mutation
(T790M) before patients were treated with a tyrosine kinase
inhibitor, during therapy, and at progression. Over time, as
patients were treated on targeted therapy, detection rates trended
consistently lower indicating therapeutic responses in some
patients. Importantly, two patients in the study were found to have
T790M mutations only in blood and not in tissue.
- "Biocept's Sample Collection for Tumor Cell Analysis
Demonstrates Superior Performance" - Comparisons were made
between Biocept's blood collection tubes with its proprietary
CEE-Sure® fixative and Saccomanno's Fixative, one of the
most widely used cytology fixatives. Results showed consistently
higher cell recovery, better cell membrane maintenance, and higher
quality FISH signals when samples were stored using
CEE-Sure® vs. Saccomanno's Fixative.
"AND" campaign to raise awareness on benefits
of combining both tissue biopsy and liquid biopsy
During the
ASCO meeting, Biocept will unveil its new marketing campaign
focused on improving the chances of rapidly identifying clinically
actionable biomarkers in cancer patients. Clinical studies have
demonstrated that liquid biopsies can detect certain cancer
biomarkers when results from a tissue biopsy are negative,
therefore, using both methodologies together may be complementary.
There are several challenges associated with tissue biopsies
including the difficulty of performing a biopsy due to tumor
location, limited tumor material due to small biopsy sizes, tumor
heterogeneity both within the tumor material and between multiple
metastatic sites, and risk of complications. All of these reasons,
in addition to the relatively high cost of a tissue biopsy, and the
time it takes to receive biomarker results, have increased the
interest in obtaining molecular information from a simple blood
sample.
"With more than 30,000 oncologists and professionals attending
ASCO, this meeting is well-suited to launch our new liquid biopsy
awareness campaign," said Michael
Terry, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial
Operations at Biocept. "Our medical and commercial teams are eager
to educate physicians at ASCO about our Target Selector tests, and
the ability to help patients diagnosed with cancer gain access to
personalized therapies for their specific disease."
About Biocept
Biocept, Inc. is a molecular diagnostics
company with commercialized assays for lung, breast, gastric,
colorectal and prostate cancers, and melanoma. The Company
leverages its proprietary liquid biopsy technology to provide
physicians with clinically actionable information for treating and
monitoring patients diagnosed with cancer. Biocept's patented
Target Selector™ liquid biopsy technology platform captures and
analyzes tumor-associated molecular markers in both circulating
tumor cells (CTCs) and in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). With
thousands of tests performed, the platform has demonstrated the
ability to identify cancer mutations and alterations to inform
physicians about a patient's disease and therapeutic options. For
additional information, please visit www.biocept.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer Statement
This
news release contains forward-looking statements that are based
upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of
assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the
expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the
assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give
no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to
be correct. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable
by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could,"
"expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend" or
"project," or the negative of these words or other variations on
these words or comparable terminology. To the extent that
statements in this news release are not strictly historical,
including, without limitation, statements as to our ability to
improve the outcomes of cancer patients, such statements are
forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to
numerous risk factors as set forth in our Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) filings. The effects of such risks and
uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from
the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. We
do not plan to update any such forward-looking statements and
expressly disclaim any duty to update the information contained in
this press release except as required by law. Readers are advised
to review our filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.
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SOURCE Biocept, Inc.