Liege (Belgium) - July 15, 2008, 08:00 CET - OncoMethylome Sciences (Euronext Brussels: ONCOB, Euronext Amsterdam: ONCOA) announced today that Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) launched ColoSureTM, a stool-based testing service for colorectal cancer screening which is included in the American Cancer Society’s colorectal cancer screening guidelines. The testing service is carried out with reagents for detecting methylation of the Vimentin DNA marker with Methylation-Specific PCR (MSP) technology. As announced in a press release dated June 23, 2008, OncoMethylome earns revenue for supplying LabCorp with these reagents and qualifies for milestones tied to commercial uptake of the reagents by LabCorp.
“This is the second methylation assay launched by LabCorp in 2008. We are pleased with LabCorp’s commitment to make OncoMethylome’s methylation technology available to patients. We hope this test, for colorectal cancer screening, will help to detect colorectal cancer that would otherwise have been undetected and untreated” commented Herman Spolders, CEO of OncoMethylome.
To download this press release as a PDF, click here: Press Release PDF
About Colorectal Cancer Colorectal cancer is a very common illness with more than 900,000 new cases and 500,000 deaths recorded worldwide each year. Colorectal cancer is best treatable if diagnosed early; however, today, fewer than 40% of colorectal cancers are detected early. American Cancer Society estimates that 50% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented if everyone above the age of 50 were screened regularly. In Europe and US, there are over 200 million people over the age of 50 who would benefit from regular screening for colorectal cancer. OncoMethylome is developing sensitive and non-invasive stool and blood screening tests for this disease.
About Methylation and Methylation Markers Methylation is a natural control mechanism that regulates gene expression in DNA. Abnormal methylation of certain genes, such as tumor suppressor genes, can silence gene expression and is associated with cancer development. Genes, whose methylation is linked to cancer, are called methylation markers. OncoMethylome owns proprietary technology that is highly sensitive and capable of detecting methylation markers, and thereby cancer, even in early stages of cancer development. In the case of colorectal cancer, this technology identifies methylation of genes, or methylation markers, that have been shown to be associated with colorectal cancer.
About OncoMethylome Sciences OncoMethylome Sciences (Euronext Brussels: ONCOB; Euronext Amsterdam: ONCOA) is a molecular diagnostics company developing gene methylation tests to assist physicians in effectively detecting and treating cancer. Specifically, the company’s tests are designed to help the physician (i) accurately detect cancer in early stages of cancer development, (ii) predict a patient’s response to drug therapy, and (iii) predict the likelihood of cancer recurrence.
OncoMethylome boasts a broad product development pipeline consisting of ten products and a solid partnering record. The company collaborates with leading international molecular oncology research centers, such as The Johns Hopkins University, and has a number of commercial and collaborative partnerships with Veridex LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, LabCorp, Schering-Plough Corp., GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Abbott, Merck KGaA, Millipore Corporation’s BioScience Division, and EXACT Sciences Corp. OncoMethylome’s products are based on methylation technology invented by Johns Hopkins University (USA).
Established in January 2003, OncoMethylome has offices in Liege and Leuven (Belgium), in Durham, NC (USA), and in Amsterdam (the Netherlands).
For more information please contact: Lucija Turcinov Tel. +32-479-801-902 ir@oncomethylome.com www.oncomethylome.com
