David F. Hale and Ivor Royston, M.D. Join Biocept Board

SAN DIEGO, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Biocept, Inc. announced today that David F. Hale has joined the Board as Executive Chairman and Ivor Royston, M.D. as a Director. Mr. Hale and Dr. Royston first worked together at Hybritech, San Diego's first biotech company, of which Dr. Royston was a co-founder and director, and Mr. Hale served as President and COO and as CEO when the company was acquired by Eli Lilly & Co. They also worked together at the oncology company, CancerVax Incorporated, which was merged with Micromet, Inc. in 2006.

Biocept is a San Diego-based diagnostic and laboratory services company focused on the capture, detection, enumeration and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to provide information to physicians to enhance the treatment of patients with cancer. The company is planning to launch its first product, OncoCEE-BR™ for breast cancer, in the third quarter of this year.

"Ivor and I are very excited about the potential of Biocept's technology to aid physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of their patients with cancer," said Hale. "Cancer has been shown to be a disease of genetic changes that are highly variable from patient to patient, requiring a individualized treatment approach. We believe that Biocept's technology can play an important role in the development of personalized or companion diagnostics to help clinicians customize the treatment of their cancer patients," continued Hale.

"We also want to thank Claire Reiss, whose deceased husband Bob was involved in founding the Company, for her service as Chairwoman of the Board and for her significant financial support of the Company. Mrs. Reiss will continue on the Board as Chairwoman Emeritus", said Hale.

David F. Hale

Since 2006 Hale has been Chairman and CEO of Hale BioPharma Ventures, LLC a private venture company that has been involved in the founding, formation and/or development of over ten biotechnology, specialty pharma, diagnostic and medical device companies. In addition to Hybritech, he was President and CEO of Gensia Sicor, Inc., co-founder and chairman of Viagene, President and CEO of Women First Health Care, Inc. and President and CEO of CancerVax. He was a co-founder and serves as Chairman of the Board of Somaxon Pharmaceuticals and as Chairman of Santarus, both of which are public companies. He also serves on the Board of Skin Medica, Inc. and a number of other emerging private companies.

He is a co-founder and serves on the Board of Directors of BIOCOM, and is a co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of CONNECT. He is a member of the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the San Diego EDC, the Sanford-Burnham Research Institute and serves as Chairman of Rady Children's Hospital.

Ivor Royston, M.D.

Since 1990, Dr. Royston is a founding Managing Partner of Forward Ventures in San Diego, from 1990-2000, he served as founding President and CEO of The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and from 1978 to 1990, he was on the oncology faculty of UC, San Diego. In addition to Hybritech, he was a co-founder of IDEC Corporation in 1986, which merged with Biogen to form BiogenIdec.

Dr. Royston has been instrumental in the formation, financing and development of numerous biotechnology companies, including: Applied Molecular Evolution (acquired by Eli Lilly); Corixa (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline); Dynavax; Morphotek (acquired by Eisai), Sequana Therapeutics (acquired by Celera); TargeGen (acquired by Sanofi - Aventis), and Triangle Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Gilead). Dr. Royston's recent portfolio investments include HemaQuest, LigoCyte (Chairman), and Syndax.

Dr. Royston received his B.A. (1967) and M.D. (1970) degrees from Johns Hopkins University and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Stanford University. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Dr. Royston to a six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board.

About Biocept, Inc.

Biocept Laboratories, headquartered in San Diego, California, is a diagnostic and advanced laboratory services company specializing in the capture, detection, isolation and molecular analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Biocept's mission is to enhance the lives of cancer patients through the development of innovative diagnostic products and services. Biocept utilizes patented and innovative technologies to deliver clinically relevant information to physicians that enable better patient care. This includes clinical assessments of CTCs, both prognostic and predictive, which may provide physicians with information highly relevant for the treatment of their patients with cancer.

SOURCE Biocept, Inc.