Study Results Presented at the 2016 ESMO Annual Congress Demonstrate Leading Clinical Performance with Biocept's ctDNA Liquid Biopsy Platform vs. Tissue Biopsy

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC), a molecular diagnostics company commercializing and developing proprietary liquid biopsy tests that provide information to physicians to improve cancer treatment, announces that clinical results from a study evaluating 40 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) demonstrated up to 90% concordance between the Company's Target-Selector™ platform and tissue biopsy for the detection of actionable oncogene mutations and other validated cancer biomarkers. Analysis of a patient subset in the study showed that changes in both circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), detected using Biocept's proprietary liquid biopsy assays, correlated significantly to response to systemic drug therapy in a majority of cases.  The clinical data were presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"In this dataset, Biocept's blood-based ctDNA assay demonstrated high concordance relative to tissue biopsy for the identification of actionable molecular alterations associated with non-small cell lung cancer," stated Oscar Arrieta, M.D., the study's lead investigator, and Coordinator of Clinical Lung Cancer and Thoracic Tumor and Head of the Laboratory of Personalized Medicine at the National Cancer Institute of Mexico. "Given these findings, the Target Selector™ technology appears to be a viable noninvasive alternative for establishing mutational status, and for identifying secondary resistance mutations such as EGFR T790M in patients who progress on first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Clear changes observed in the level of detectable mutant allele frequency after treatment suggest that this liquid biopsy method holds promise to be used for real-time monitoring of patients' clinical status."

In the study, analysis with Biocept's Target Selector™ ctDNA platform found that the T790M resistance mutation was present in the plasma of 50% of patients with clinical progression when treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

"These study results validate the ability of our Target Selector™ tests to comprehensively profile a patient's cancer, and further demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity of our dual ctDNA and CTC assay platforms," said Biocept's Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Lyle Arnold, Ph.D. 

"We are pleased that these findings, generated by world-class collaborators from both academia and biopharma, were presented at the Annual ESMO Congress in Copenhagen," said Biocept's President and CEO Michael Nall. "We continue to build the body of clinical evidence supporting the utility of our proprietary liquid biopsy platform, as we increase physician adoption of our technology and help patients in their fight against cancer."

Physicians interested in ordering Biocept's liquid biopsy tests for cancer biomarkers should contact Customer Service at 858-320-8206, or visit http://biocept.com/medical-professionals/.

About Biocept

Biocept, Inc. is a molecular diagnostics company with commercialized assays for lung, breast, gastric, colorectal and prostate cancers, and melanoma.  The Company uses its proprietary liquid biopsy technology to provide physicians with information for treating and monitoring patients diagnosed with cancer.  The Company's patented Target Selector™ liquid biopsy technology platform captures and analyzes tumor-associated molecular markers in both CTCs and ctDNA.  With thousands of tests performed, the platform has demonstrated the ability to identify cancer mutations and alterations to inform physicians about a patient's disease and therapeutic options.  For additional information, please visit www.biocept.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology.  To the extent that statements in this release are not strictly historical, including without limitation statements as to our ability to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, our liquid biopsy platform being a viable noninvasive alternative for establishing mutational status and for identifying secondary resistance mutations, our liquid biopsy platform being capable of proving real-time monitoring of patients' clinical status, and our ability to increase physician adoption of our technology, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous risk factors as set forth in our Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.  The effects of such risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.  We do not plan to update any such forward-looking statements and expressly disclaim any duty to update the information contained in this press release except as required by law.  Readers are advised to review our filings with the SEC, which can be accessed over the Internet at the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov.

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SOURCE Biocept, Inc.

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