SAN DIEGO, Nov. 21, 2019 /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 the commercial availability of its Target
Selector™ pan-TRK assay for the detection of TRK proteins.
With the Biocept assay, a simple blood sample can help inform
physicians on the potential presence of NTRK fusions, which
are actionable biomarkers that can be used to qualify patients for
treatment with TRK inhibitor therapies. With the launch of this new
assay, Biocept now offers 20 CLIA-certified liquid biopsy tests
utilizing its Target Selector™ platform to determine the status of
actionable solid tumor biomarkers.
"Biocept's Target Selector pan-TRK
assay utilizes our proprietary circulating tumor cell
(CTC) platform, which enables a simple blood-based test to screen
for TRK gene alternations, a unique liquid biopsy
offering," said Veena Singh,
MD, Senior Vice President and Senior Medical Director at
Biocept. "Biocept's novel liquid biopsy tests are
designed to help physicians rapidly and in real-time
identify key biomarkers of interest to facilitate
the clinical decision making process."
"We continue to execute on expanding our menu of non-invasive
and cost-effective biomarker tests," said Biocept's President and
Chief Executive Officer Michael
Nall. "Biocept now offers 20 commercially available liquid
biopsy assays including two tumor-specific next generation
sequencing panels that cover the most actionable genomic
alterations for solid tumors. We believe that this comprehensive
offering, including the addition of our Target Selector™ pan-TRK
test, will help us increase adoption of our liquid biopsy platform
in the oncology market."
About Biocept's Liquid Biopsy pan-TRK Test for Potential
NTRK Fusions
Precision medicine in oncology continues to evolve as the number
of clinically validated biomarkers to determine treatment pathways
for specific tumor types is growing. Genomic profiling has
identified fusions of the NTRK gene, involving either
NTRK1, NTRK2 or NTRK3, which encode for the
protein receptors TRKA, TRKB and TRKC, respectively1.
The presence of TRK proteins has been associated with more
aggressive cancer in certain tumor types, such as lung
cancer2. Currently, for qualified patients with
NTRK fusions, there are two approved first-generation TRK
inhibitor therapies on the market, Vitrakvi®
(larotrectinib) and Rozlytrek® (entrectinib), which are
associated with high clinical response rates (>75%)3.
While the prevalence of NTRK fusions is low, they can be
found across a broad range of tumor types, therefore testing
patients for this family of biomarkers may be
warranted4. Biocept's novel Target Selector™ pan-TRK
assay is a liquid biopsy test designed to detect NTRK
antibodies from a patient's blood sample. Sensitivity and
specificity between the presence of TRK proteins and FISH detection
of NTRK fusions is 95.2% and 100%5, respectively,
therefore, Biocept's pan-TRK assay can be used as a simple and
cost-effective method for determining the potential presence of
NTRK fusions and whether further testing is advised. For
more information about Biocept's Target Selector™ testing, please
contact Biocept Customer Services at 888.332.7729.
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
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 CTCs and in plasma (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 potential clinical
utility of our proprietary technology platform and our ability
to increase adoption of our liquid biopsy platform in the oncology
market, 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.
References:
- A. Drilon, et al. Efficacy of Larotrectinib in TRK
Fusion-Positive Cancers in Adults and Children. N Engl J
Med. 378:731-739, 2018.
- A. Lange, et al. Inhibiting TRK Proteins in Clinical Cancer
Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 2018 Apr; 10(4):
105.
- E. Coco, et al. NTRK Fusion-Positive Cancers and TRK
Inhibitor Therapy. Nat Rev Clin
Oncol 15: 737-747, 2018.
- Matthew Stenger, Larotrectinib
for Solid Tumors With NTRK Gene Fusions. The ASCO
Post. Dec, 2018.
- J. Hechtman, et al. Pan-Trk Immunohistochemistry is an
Efficient and Reliable Screen for the Detection of NTRK
Fusions. Am J Surg Pathol. 2017 Nov; 41(11):
1547–1551.
Contact:
LHA Investor Relations
Jody Cain
Jcain@lhai.com
310-691-7100
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SOURCE Biocept, Inc.