Biocartis Group NV: Biocartis receives EUR 1.4m grant to support development of its rapid NGS Prep Panels

   
PRESS RELEASE:  31 October 2016, 07:00 CEST

Biocartis receives EUR 1.4m grant to support development of its rapid NGS Prep Panels

Mechelen, Belgium, 31 October 2016 - Biocartis Group NV ('Biocartis'), an innovative molecular diagnostics company (Euronext Brussels: BCART), today announces that it has received a EUR 1.4m grant from VLAIO, the Flanders organisation for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, formerly known as 'IWT'. Biocartis will use this grant, which has a duration of two years, to support the development of NGS Prep Panels (Next Generation Sequencing) for its molecular diagnostics Idylla(TM) platform. 

The NGS Prep Panels that Biocartis has under development combine the company's best-in-class sample preparation technologies for oncology applications (such as FFPE^[1] tissue, cytological materials or plasma) integrated in the Idylla(TM) cartridge, with the generation of DNA libraries^[2] that contain a wide range of enriched genomic information relevant for oncology diagnostics. Both steps comprise the majority of the NGS workflow. As such, the NGS Prep Panels can function as a gateway to NGS by providing standardization and automation of key sample and library preparatory steps. This is expected to reduce the total hands-on and turnaround time of a standard NGS workflow with 50%-75%^[3] and will significantly reduce workflow errors given, amongst others, the high level of automation.

While the Idylla(TM) qPCR^[4] technology is ideally suited for fast and cost-effective first-line detection of the most common pre-identified cancer driving gene alterations, NGS technology is capable of detecting a broader spectrum of gene alterations, which is particularly useful to detect less frequently occurring cancer-driving mutations. The NGS Prep Panels under development, from a health economic perspective, are as such a cost-efficient way to bridge these complementary technologies.

Nicolas Vergauwe, Head of Innovation at Biocartis, commented: "Once again, Biocartis is grateful for the financial support it has received from VLAIO. Thanks to this project, Biocartis can further expand the true platform capabilities of Idylla(TM) by the development of highly innovative NGS Prep Panels, complimentary to first-line rapid and highly accurate Idylla(TM) testing for the detection of the most common mutations. This will open doors to ensure that a larger population has access to the newest targeted cancer treatments via Idylla(TM) triaging, which is expected to improve treatment outcomes while lowering healthcare costs."

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More information:
Renate Degrave
Manager Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
rdegrave@biocartis.com
+32 15 631 729

About Biocartis 
Biocartis (Euronext Brussels: BCART) is an innovative molecular diagnostics (MDx) company providing next generation diagnostic solutions aimed at improving clinical practice for the benefit of patients, clinicians, payers and industry. Biocartis' proprietary MDx Idylla(TM) platform is a fully automated sample-to-result, real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) system that offers accurate, highly reliable molecular information from virtually any biological sample in virtually any setting. Biocartis launched the Idylla(TM) platform in September 2014. Biocartis is developing and marketing a rapidly expanding test menu addressing key unmet clinical needs in oncology and infectious diseases. These areas represent respectively the fastest growing and largest segments of the MDx market worldwide. Today, Biocartis has five oncology tests and two infectious disease tests. More information: www.biocartis.com. Press Photo Library available here. Follow us on Twitter: @Biocartis_.

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