bioTheranostics' Breast Cancer Index(SM) Shows Clinical Utility in Late Recurrence Prognosis and Identification of Patients Eligible for Breast Conserving Surgery

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- bioTheranostics, Inc., a bioMerieux company that develops innovative oncology diagnostic tests to inform personalized treatment, today announced results from studies that demonstrated the increased clinical utility of the Breast Cancer Index(SM) (BCI).

These studies suggest that BCI, with its novel mechanism of action, provides oncologists with insight into the risk of late recurrence for estrogen receptor positive and lymph node negative (ER+, LN-) breast cancer patients (Abstract:  P5-13-08).  In addition, BCI appears to demonstrate significant predictive utility in determining which patients benefit from neoadjuvant (preoperative) chemotherapy and are candidates for breast conserving surgery (BCS) (Abstract:  P2-12-12). "Residual risk of relapse is a substantial concern for breast cancer patients and their oncologists as more than half of recurrences occur beyond the initial five years of endocrine therapy," said Mark Erlander, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of bioTheranostics.  "Although first-generation multi-gene signatures provide prognostic information, their utility is strongest for predicting relapse within five years of the breast cancer diagnosis.  Breast Cancer Index demonstrates sustainable prognostic power and particularly addresses the unmet medical need of late recurrence."

"To our knowledge, little biomarker information has been associated with BCS benefit prediction," said Richard Ding, Chief Executive Officer of bioTheranostics.  "Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is becoming increasingly important because oncologists obviously want to identify which patients would have the greatest likelihood of being eligible for breast conserving surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.  If you could determine which patients would benefit, oncologists and patients may observe better outcomes, and there would be the potential to reduce unnecessary chemotherapy-related toxicities."

Ding added, "After showing positive BCI data for validation and chemotherapy sensitivity, we are very excited to demonstrate the unique clinical utility and product differentiation of Breast Cancer Index, a second generation of breast cancer prognostic biomarker."

About bioTheranostics

Advancing Molecular Diagnostics in Oncology

bioTheranostics discovers, develops and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests for cancer patients. Leveraging its unique expertise in expression profiling and algorithm development, bioTheranostics provides innovative tests to the oncology community. The company operates a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited diagnostic service laboratory in San Diego, CA to perform its proprietary molecular diagnostic tests: breastcancerindex, which is a prognostic test that provides quantitative risk assessment of distant recurrence in patients diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive and lymph node negative breast cancer; and CancerTYPE ID, which uses the differential expression of 92 genes to aid in the determination of tumor site of origin. For more information, call 1-858-587-5870 or visit www.bioTheranostics.com.

About bioMerieux

Advancing Diagnostics to Improve Public Health

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for more than 45 years, bioMerieux is present in more than 150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2010, revenues reached euro 1.357 billion with 87% of sales outside of France. bioMerieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high medical value results for cancer screening and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. bioMerieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM – ISIN: FR0010096479). Other information can be found at www.biomerieux.com

FOR INFORMATION:

bioTheranostics
Tim Schofield
Tel: + 1 858 587 5890
[email protected]

bioMerieux
Koren Wolman-Tardy
Tel: + 011 33 6 13 94 51 14
[email protected]

SOURCE bioTheranostics, Inc.