AviaraDx, Inc. And Massachusetts General Hospital Collaborate In Molecular Cancer Profiling Study

CARLSBAD, Calif., May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- AviaraDx, Inc., a leader in molecular cancer profiling and formerly known as Arcturus Bioscience, Inc., announced today that it has entered into a major research collaboration with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center to identify molecular profiles of multiple types of cancer for the development of diagnostic technologies and tests in the field of cancer drug response prediction.

Over the next two years, teams at MGH and AviaraDx will conduct a broad molecular profiling program to determine genes, gene signatures and polymorphisms that correlate with response to specific therapeutic agents in a wide range of different cancers. The initiative aims to identify and commercialize tumor biomarkers that predict which patients may respond to targeted drugs. MGH and AviaraDx will perform gene sequencing and gene expression analysis in a large number of cancers. The project results will not only provide valuable information to help identify patients likely to respond to a certain cancer drug, but also provide guidance with regard to a broader range of cancer types likely responding to an established drug.

Daniel A. Haber, MD, PhD, and Jeff Settleman, PhD, of MGH have extensive experience in the identification of genetic markers associated with drug response. Most recently, they reported the identification of a gene mutation that appears to identify those lung cancer patients who will likely respond to the cancer drug Iressa(R). (1)

Mark Erlander, Ph.D. and Xiao-Jun Ma, Ph.D., of AviaraDx have developed the company's Molecular Cancer Identification (MCID) technology, which has been licensed to clinical laboratory partners in the US and Europe.

"The MGH Cancer Center is a world leading medical research center, and we are pleased to be collaborating with them in a program that may result in the development of molecular diagnostic tests for drug response prediction in cancer," said Antonius Schuh, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of AviaraDx, Inc. "Transforming the molecular basis of cancer into diagnostic technologies with proven clinical utility is the core focus for AviaraDx. Our molecular cancer identification (MCID) and breast cancer profiling (BCP) technologies are impressive achievements in this space.

"Our goal is the development of a rational basis for the selection of a specific drug regimen in a given patient," said Dr. Haber, who is the director of the MGH Cancer Center. "We are hopeful that this collaboration will generate technologies of relevant molecular diagnostic tests for predicting what therapy is best suited for specific patients."

About AviaraDx, Inc.

AviaraDx, Inc., formerly Arcturus Bioscience, Inc., is focused on developing and commercializing diagnostic technologies for molecular cancer profiling. AviaraDx leverages its technological leadership position in the analysis of cancer biopsies and proprietary bioinformatic methodologies to discover and commercialize molecular diagnostic products. The molecular diagnostic market segment of the diagnostic market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of greater than 25% over the next decade and AviaraDx is targeting this market opportunity with three first-in-class molecular cancer diagnostic technologies: Molecular Cancer Identification (MCID), Breast Cancer Profiling (BCP) and Drug Response Profiling (DRP). AviaraDx estimates that the addressable U.S. market for its products and services is approximately $3 billion and has already licensed its MCID and BCP technologies for specific clinical indications and for defined detection platforms to diagnostic laboratories in the U.S. and Europe in order drive early market penetration and acceptance. AviaraDx has recently relocated its headquarters from Mountain View, California to Carlsbad, California. Please visit the AviaraDx website at http://www.aviaradx.com for more information.

About Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital, established in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Its dedication to the treatment of cancer dates back to 1925, when the MGH opened the nation's first tumor clinic. Over the decades, the hospital has become widely known for its leadership in cancer surgery and radiation therapy. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $500 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, cutaneous biology, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, transplantation biology and photomedicine. In 1994, MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital joined to form Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery system.

(1) IRESSA(R) is a trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies. CONTACT: Steve Zaniboni Chief Financial Officer +1-760-579-0514

CONTACT: Steve Zaniboni, Chief Financial Officer, of AviaraDx, Inc.,+1-760-579-0514

Web site: http://www.aviaradx.com//