SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2020 /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 patients diagnosed with
cancer, announces that it has been granted Brazil Patent No.
BR112013028296-7, titled, METHODS FOR DETECTING NUCLEIC ACID
SEQUENCE VARIANTS. The patent provides intellectual property
protection for the Switch-Blocker technology that is core to
Biocept's Target Selector™ assays for ctDNA analysis using
real-time PCR, Sanger sequencing
and next-generation sequencing (NGS).
"The issuance of this patent further expands Biocept's global
intellectual property protection for rare mutation detection, which
already includes the U.S., South
Korea, China, Australia, Japan, and Europe," said Lyle
Arnold, Ph.D., Biocept's Chief Scientific Officer. "The
Switch-Blocker technology makes possible the ultra-sensitive
detection of rare genetic events, and is especially useful for
detecting rare cancer-associated mutations and alterations for use
in our liquid biopsy assays. This technology works seamlessly with
our other technologies for blood collection and CTC capture and
analysis."
The recently issued Brazilian patent encompasses Biocept's
Switch-Blocker technology, which specifically enriches patient
specimens for oncogene mutations of interest, resulting in
ultra-high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of
cancer-associated alterations. The Switch-Blocker is designed to
improve detection rates for rare genetic alterations, including
biomarkers in patients diagnosed with cancer, allowing physicians
to make informed decisions for therapy selection and to monitor
treatment response, progression or recurrence over time.
"We are pleased to be granted this Brazilian patent covering our
Switch-Blocker technology, which increases our total patent
portfolio to 39 as we continue to expand our global intellectual
property protection," stated Michael
Nall, Biocept's President and CEO.
About Biocept's ctDNA Target Selector™ Technology
The "Switch-Blocker" technology covered by Brazilian Patent No.
BR112013028296-7 further expands on South Korean Patent No.
2010601, Japanese Patent No 6404118, European Patent No. 2,705,162,
U.S. Patent No. 9,834,817, Chinese Patent No. ZL201280032293.0 and
Australian Patent No. 2012250516, that are applicable to a broad
range of molecular genomic platforms, including real-time PCR,
digital PCR, Sanger sequencing,
NGS, arrays, mass-spec, capillary detection systems, and many
others. The Switch-Blocker technology allows normal (wild-type)
nucleic acid material such as normal DNA to be significantly
blocked from amplification, while allowing genetic alterations
associated with cancer and other diseases to be amplified. This
method increases the detection sensitivity of genetic alterations
such as cancer mutations in low abundance, as the "noise"
associated with normal genetic sequences is significantly reduced.
Biocept's Switch-Blocker technology may also reduce the cost of
running assays, such as NGS assays, because the expense of
sequencing large amounts of uninformative wild-type nucleic acid is
eliminated.
In clinical validation studies, Biocept has demonstrated, with a
high degree of correlation, the ability to detect the same
biomarkers in blood that were identified from tissue biopsy from
the same patients. Using a blood specimen to provide information on
biomarkers found on solid tumors offers the benefits of reducing
the risks and costs of biopsy relative to tissue, has convenience
advantages, and can enable the ability to non-invasively conduct
serial monitoring of patient specimens over time.
About Biocept
Biocept, Inc. is a molecular diagnostics company with
commercialized assays for lung, breast, gastric, colorectal and
prostate cancers, and melanoma. The Company uses its proprietary
liquid biopsy technology to provide physicians with clinically
actionable information for treating and monitoring patients
diagnosed with cancer. The Company'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 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
have been 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 release are not strictly historical, including
without limitation statements as to our ability to improve the
outcomes of patients diagnosed with cancer, the utility and
effectiveness of our intellectual property protections, our ability
to expand the adoption of our tests globally, and the cost saving
attributes of our switch-blocker technology, 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 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, which can be accessed over the Internet
at the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov.
Investor Contact:
LHA Investor
Relations
Jody Cain
Jcain@lhai.com
310-691-7100
Media Contact:
CORE IR
Jules Abraham
julesa@coreir.com
917-885-7378
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brazil-patent-granted-for-biocepts-target-selector-oncogene-mutation-enrichment-and-detection-platform-301038067.html
SOURCE Biocept, Inc.