Baltimore, MD and San Jose, CA - Chronix Biomedical today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Howard Urnovitz, is presenting a session on "Improving Technology for Cancer Detection and Screening" at the Payor Oncology Management Summit, a conference for healthcare insurers and providers focusing on new developments in cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Chronix is developing disease-specific epigenomic biomarkers based on DNA fragments that are released into the bloodstream by damaged and dying (apoptotic) cells. Chronix's serum tests are applicable to a wide range of cancers and other chronic diseases.

In his presentation, Dr. Urnovitz explains how the recent introduction of powerful new DNA sequencing platforms (next-generation sequencing) is providing the game-changing technology that Chronix is using to develop new cancer diagnostics that overcome the limitations of older tests, which have limited accuracy as a result of their reliance on measuring single nucleotide mutations or the methylation status of cancer related-DNA, and in some cases are hampered by the need to obtain tumor cell samples before tests can be conducted.

Dr. Urnovitz describes how Chronix's tests achieve high accuracy in the early detection of cancer using a novel approach. These new tests are non-invasive, requiring only a simple blood serum sample that can be drawn by any qualified healthcare professional, eliminating the need to identify or physically obtain cancer tissue from the patient. The Chronix approach analyzes fragments of DNA released into the bloodstream by dying cancer cells, leveraging the early event in the growth of cancer cells known as apoptosis, or cell death. Chronix is using its proprietary technology and advanced DNA sequencing platforms to measure alterations in cancer-specific regions of the chromosome, which can be detected as distinctive "signatures" in the blood-borne DNA. By focusing on these highly specific cancer signatures, Chronix's tests can reliably detect the early presence of cancer in simple blood samples.
Dr. Urnovitz also notes that the use of next-generation sequencers has dramatically reduced the cost and complexity of running its diagnostic tests, making their use in routine medical care feasible and potentially cost effective.

The Chronix approach has shown very encouraging results on the key parameter of diagnostic accuracy in the early detection of cancer. Dr. Urnovitz summarizes data from 575 individuals first discussed at the 2010 ASCO Annual Meeting, which showed that the Chronix diagnostic assay detected breast cancer and prostate cancer with a level of accuracy that surpasses the reported accuracy of current diagnostic tests, as well as those known to be in development. Dr. Urnovitz also presents new data showing that Chronix researchers are continuing to expand the predictive power of the company's approach as sequencing technology advances.

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