Adaptive Biotechnologies Announces the Formation of a Hematologic Malignancies Scientific Advisory Board

SEATTLE, Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptive Biotechnologies, a clinical stage diagnostics company that leverages Next Generation Sequencing to profile the adaptive immune system, announced today that it has established a Scientific Advisory Board to provide strategic and clinical guidance for the implementation of its clinical diagnostic suite of assays in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with leukemia and lymphoma. The initial focus of the SAB will be to support the utility of clonoSEQ^TM, Adaptive's highly accurate and sensitive NGS assay for monitoring Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) in patients with blood cancer.

The distinguished members of this advisory board includes members from leading academic institutions and tertiary care medical centers in the United States and Italy:

Dr. Fred Appelbaum, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Marco Davila, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Rafael Fonseca, Mayo Clinic (Scottsdale, AZ)

Dr. Paolo Ghia, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Milan, Italy)

Dr. Thomas Kupper, Brigham & Women's Hospital

Dr. Richard Larson, University of Chicago Medical Center

Dr. Oliver Press, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Ching-Hon Pui, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Dr. Jerald Radich, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Andrew Zelenetz, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

"The formation of the SAB comes at a turning point in the clinical management of patients with hematologic malignancies," explains Dr. Harlan Robins, Chief Scientific Officer and Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies. "The enhanced accuracy and sensitivity of a molecular test versus existing staining techniques, such as flow cytometry, may allow for earlier identification of relapse in diseases such as T-ALL and B-ALL where MRD is regularly tracked."

Adaptive plans to work closely with the SAB to generate additional clinical evidence for the utility of clonoSEQ to measure relapse in patients with diseases such as Multiple Myeloma and Lymphoma, where MRD has traditionally been more difficult to quantify. Dr. Fred Appelbaum, Deputy Director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Chairperson of the SAB, says, "We have a great opportunity to thoughtfully apply the sophistication and refinement of Next Generation Sequencing to improve the way in which patients with most lymphoid malignancies get monitored during and after treatment. I am delighted to be an integral part of this important step closer to precision medicine for patients."

The inaugural meeting of this Scientific Advisory Board will take place on Friday, December 5^th, in San Francisco, California, immediately preceding the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation is a platform-based, diagnostic-driven company that leverages next generation sequencing ("NGS") to profile T-Cell and B-Cell Receptors ("TCRs" and "BCRs"). This breakthrough technology enables in-depth characterization of the adaptive immune system, which is the primary defense against cancer. By incorporating immunosequencing into clinical care, Adaptive can enhance the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of cancer patients.

About clonoSEQ^TM

Adaptive's first CLIA certified clinical application, clonoSEQ, is for monitoring Minimal Residual Disease ("MRD") in blood-based cancers. Improving the ability to accurately detect and track residual disease at a molecular level affords clinicians the potential to detect relapse earlier and improve patient care.

About immunoSEQ^TM

Adaptive incubates and validates potential clinical products in oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases by offering fee-for-service access to its proprietary immune profiling sequencing technology under the brand name immunoSEQ. Adaptive will be introducing an immunoSEQ Kit for research use only in the fall of 2014 to facilitate the integration of immunosequencing into research centers globally.

Using the immunoSEQ platform, the company is currently validating a second novel oncology diagnostic to quantify the presence and clonality of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ("TIL") and to create a reliable measure of "immunocompetency" to predict or monitor response to cancer treatments that directly alter the host immune system.

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SOURCE Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation