Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Biocept, Protean BioDiagnostics Team up to Study EGFR Assay in Lung Cancer

NEW YORK – Biocept said on Tuesday that it will collaborate with Protean BioDiagnostics to research the ability of Biocept's Target Selector molecular assay to determine EGFR status in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

The research will be conducted in an independent pathology laboratory. Protean BioDiagnostics also expects to validate the analytical performance of a laboratory-developed test based on Biocept's EGFR assay test kit in accordance with the requirements of the College of American Pathologists' validation process.

"Obtaining adequate tissue sample for genomic profiling continues to be a challenge in first-line therapy selection for patients with NSCLC," Protean President and CEO Anthony Magliocco said in a statement. "Target Selector EGFR assays require 50 percent less tumor input sample than most commercial assays, making it a potentially powerful tool in helping qualify more patients for targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or TKI, therapy. This potential advantage is coupled with previous studies demonstrating Target Selector assays' best-in-class low-end limit of detection of mutations in both FFPE and liquid biopsy samples."

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Biocept's EGFR and BRAF assay kits have CE IVD marking and are available for research use only in the US. Using the company's Switch-Blocker technology, the kits can be used in combination with a variety of analytical platforms including qPCR, next-generation sequencing, Sanger sequencing, microarrays, and mass spectrometry.

Orlando, Florida-based Protean is developing cancer diagnostics to support precision oncology, including Oncology MAPS, an integrated diagnostic system that includes comprehensive support and access to genetic, molecular, and cancer blood monitoring tests, as well as educational and telemedicine support.

The Scan

ChatGPT Does As Well As Humans Answering Genetics Questions, Study Finds

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics had ChatGPT answer genetics-related questions, finding it was about 68 percent accurate, but sometimes gave different answers to the same question.

Sequencing Analysis Examines Gene Regulatory Networks of Honeybee Soldier, Forager Brains

Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

Analysis of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohort Uncovers New Genetic Loci Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

The study in Alzheimer's & Dementia highlighted known genes, but also novel ones with biological ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Tara Pacific Expedition Project Team Finds High Diversity Within Coral Reef Microbiome

In papers appearing in Nature Communications and elsewhere, the team reports on findings from the two-year excursion examining coral reefs.