ACD Wins $3 Million Grant From National Cancer Institute to Develop Its CTCscope™ System for Detection and Molecular Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells

HAYWARD, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) was awarded a three-year, $3 million grant from National Cancer Institute (NCI) under its SBIR Phase II Bridge Award. This grant will support ACD's continuing effort to develop its proprietary CTCscope™ system capable of automatic detection and molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). CTCs are the rare tumor cells detached from solid tumors and circulating in cancer patients' blood.

"We are very grateful for the continued support from NCI. The previous Phase I and Phase II grants have helped ACD to develop the underlying RNAscope™ technology, which has since been translated successfully into Research Use Only products for in situ detection of RNA biomarkers in FFPE samples," commented by Dr. Yuling Luo, President & CEO of ACD.  "Given how few of these grants are given, the award is a further validation of the strength of our technology to uniquely fulfill a critical unmet clinical need in cancer management." ACD has since been featured as one of the NCI SBIR Success Stories (http://sbir.cancer.gov/success/stories/acd/acd.asp).

In this latest grant, ACD will work with a multidisciplinary team from four leading institutions to further advance CTCscope™ into an automated system and conduct clinical studies to demonstrate its clinical utility. Collaborators include Dr. Paul Goodwin of Applied Precision, Drs. Hope Rugo and John Park of University of California San Francisco, Prof. David Krag of University of Vermont, and Prof. Charles Coombes of Imperial College London.

About CTCscope™:

ACD's CTCscope™ system is based on its proprietary in situ RNA detection platform RNAscope™, which enables highly sensitive and specific detection of all types of CTCs without the need for EpCAM-based enrichment. Importantly, CTCscope™ is the only technology that detects those CTCs still alive while circulating in cancer patients' blood. These are the rare tumor cells that have the potential to metastasize to distant sites and thus are the targets of chemo- and targeted therapies. CTCscope™ identifies the molecular phenotypes of CTCs for guiding treatment decisions and allows real-time monitoring of therapy response.

About Advanced Cell Diagnostics (www.acdbio.com)

Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell- and tissue-based diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. The company's products and services are based on its proprietary RNAscope™ technology, the first multiplex fluorescent and chromogenic in situ hybridization platform capable of detecting and quantifying RNA biomarkers in situ at single molecule sensitivity. ACD partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to validate biomarkers for targeted therapeutic development in cancer and other diseases. These partnerships provide the foundation for ACD to develop companion diagnostic tests in conjunction with partners' targeted therapeutics. ACD also pursues internal programs to develop proprietary diagnostic tests in cancer management.

SOURCE Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.