Oncocyte Hosting Key Opinion Leader Call on Novel Biomarkers in Identifying Appropriate Responders to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

IRVINE, Calif., April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oncocyte Corporation (Nasdaq: OCX), a molecular diagnostics company with a mission to provide actionable answers at critical decision points across the cancer care continuum, today announced that it will host a key opinion leader (KOL) call on novel biomarkers in identifying appropriate responders to immune checkpoint inhibitors on Monday, April 19, 2021 at 11:30am Eastern Time.

The event will feature a presentation by KOLs David Gandara, MD, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Mamta Parikh, MD, MS, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, who will present an overview of the use and limitations of currently clinically available biomarkers, such as PD-L1 and tumor mutational burden (TMB), in identifying responders to immunotherapies, specifically immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) that are FDA-approved for a broad range of solid tumors. New data will also be discussed, presented for the first time during an oral symposium at the 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, showing that DetermaIO™, a 27-gene test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to identify immunotherapy responders, has strong performance in identifying responders to atezolizumab in bladder cancer, as measured by overall survival rates in DetermaIO-positive patients who received ICI. This adds to previously presented data in non-small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer that demonstrates incremental utility beyond PD-L1 and TMB in identifying responders to all currently approved ICIs. Evidence now presented for three different cancers suggests a potential pan-cancer application for the test.

Drs. Parikh and Gandara will be available to answer questions following the formal presentations.

To register for the call, please click here.

Mamta Parikh, MD, MS is a medical oncologist and assistant professor at the University of California, Davis. She specializes in the medical treatment of genitourinary malignancies including kidney/renal cell, bladder, prostate, ureteral cancers, and germ cell tumor cancers. Her clinical research interests focus on prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer. She is the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials, is the national principal investigator on an NCI-sponsored trial of a novel ATR inhibitor in combination with chemotherapy in advanced solid tumors, and collaborates with basic researchers on translational clinical research projects. She is an active member of the California Cancer Consortium and the Southwest Oncology Group.

After a successful career as a medicinal chemist, Dr. Parikh received her medical degree from the University of California, Davis, and completed her residency and an oncology fellowship at UC Davis as well. She was the recipient of the Joseph Sullivan Research Award in 2016 and is currently a recipient of the NCI-sponsored Paul Calabresi K12 Career Development Award.

David R. Gandara, MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) School of Medicine is the Senior Advisor to the Director and Director of Thoracic Oncology at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCDCCC). He is an internationally known clinician-scientist and lung cancer thought leader. He has led many notable research projects in lung cancer, including early therapeutics trials at various phases, cooperative group trial through the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), and translational science projects. He is the clinical director for a National Cancer Institute (NCI) award to the California Cancer Consortium for Early Therapeutic Trials of New Anti-Cancer Agents. He is past chair of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Lung Committee, and a member and founding co-chair of the NCI-directed Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC). He has written over 700 articles, book chapters, abstracts, and editorials. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Clinical Lung Cancer. He served as president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from 2009-2011 and served as treasurer from 2013-2017. He is a prior board member and secretary-treasurer of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Most recently, he serves as clinical director for the joint Jackson Laboratory (JAX)-UCDCCC patient-derived xenotransplant (PDX) program in lung cancer and is UCD Comprehensive Cancer Center’s principal investigator for the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) dream team in KRAS-mutated lung cancer.

About Oncocyte Corporation
Oncocyte is a molecular diagnostics company whose mission is to provide actionable answers at critical decision points across the cancer care continuum. The Company, through its proprietary tests and pharmaceutical services business, aims to help save lives and improve outcomes by accelerating and optimizing the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Company’s tests and services present multiple opportunities to advance cancer care while also driving revenue growth for the Company. Oncocyte launched DetermaRx™, a test that identifies early-stage lung cancer patients who are at high risk for cancer recurrence post-resection and predicts benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Oncocyte has also launched DetermaIO™, a gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to predict response to immunotherapies, as a research use only tool for pharmaceutical and academic clinical trials. To complement DetermaIO™, the Company anticipates launching DetermaTx™, a test to assess mutational status of a tumor to help identify the appropriate targeted therapy, in the second half of 2021. The Company previously announced its planned acquisition of Chronix Biomedical Inc. and its TheraSure™ CNI Monitor test, and also plans to continue with the development of DetermaMx™ as the Company seeks to expand into the blood-based monitoring market. Oncocyte’s pharmaceutical services provide pharmaceutical companies who are developing new cancer treatments a full suite of molecular testing services to support the drug development process.

DetermaRx, DetermaIO, DetermaMx, and DetermaTx are trademarks of Oncocyte Corporation. TheraSure is a trademark of Chronix Biomedical Inc.

Oncocyte Forward Looking Statements. Oncocyte cautions you that this press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates,” “may,” and similar expressions) are forward-looking statements. These include statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the potential impact of COVID-19 on our or any distributor’s financial and operational results, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential diagnostic tests or products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, the capacity of our third-party supplied blood sample analytic system to provide consistent and precise analytic results on a commercial scale, potential interruptions to our or any distributor’s supply chain, the need and ability to obtain future capital, maintenance of intellectual property rights in all applicable jurisdictions, and the need to obtain third party reimbursement for patients’ use of any diagnostic tests we commercialize in applicable jurisdictions, and risks inherent in strategic transactions such as failure to realize anticipated benefits, legal, regulatory or political changes in the applicable jurisdictions, accounting and quality controls, greater than estimated allocations of resources to develop and commercialize technologies, or failure to maintain any laboratory accreditation or certification. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and accordingly such statements should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of Oncocyte, particularly those mentioned in the “Risk Factors” and other cautionary statements found in Oncocyte’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available from the SEC’s website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Oncocyte undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

Investor Contact
Bob Yedid
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
646-597-6989
bob@lifesciadvisors.com