OGT to develop tumour profiling assay to facilitate personalised cancer treatment

Oxford, UK – 21 June 2011. OGT, provider of innovative genetics and biomarker solutions to advance molecular medicine, has today announced that it has received a funding award of £1.16 million from the UK government-backed Technology Strategy Board. As part of the project, OGT will develop a tumour profiling assay based on targeted panel enrichment and next generation sequencing (NGS). The new assay would improve cancer care by providing specific information about each individual sufferer, thereby facilitating the design of personalised treatment strategies. This would minimise the use of untargeted, aggressive primary treatments, which are often unnecessary and ineffective, while simultaneously improving the patient experience and increasing survival rates. OGT is well positioned to develop such a screening tool, as the company has considerable experience in providing solutions to the clinical research market and already offers sequencing and microarray services and products as part of its Genefficiency™ and CytoSure™ offerings.

As part of the new project, OGT will utilise its expertise in the design of high-quality, high-throughput genomic services to develop a flexible tumour profiling assay that reduces sample processing costs and turnaround times. The assay will detect mutations at informative loci, forming part of an integrated workflow that translates test results into clear clinical decisions. Such a solution would ultimately be provided as either a testing service or by the sale of an analysis ‘kit’ that could be used in-house by existing clinical laboratories. In addition, OGT will use its experience in data interpretation to adapt its powerful CytoSure Interpret Software to analyse the results provided by the new assays, making it simple to generate informative, easy-to-understand reports. James Clough, OGT’s Vice President of Clinical and Genomic Solutions, commented: “OGT has significant experience in utilising its ISO-accredited laboratories to process large numbers of samples and produce reliable results, quickly, accurately and efficiently. The new cancer profiling assay will complement OGT’s other microarray and sequencing solutions, further expanding the analytical options we provide. Such a service facility is novel in the UK and will benefit the patient, clinician and healthcare funder in terms of quality of care and cost-effectiveness.”

The investment made through the Technology Strategy Board is part of a five-year programme in stratified medicine research and development involving over £60 million of government funding. Led by OGT, the project is a partnership with the Universities of Southampton and Birmingham, including Salisbury and Birmingham NHS Regional Genetics Laboratories, with the latter as Birmingham United Molecular Pathology in collaboration with the Department of Cellular Pathology at University Hospitals Birmingham. These partners will provide further clinical and technical expertise, as well as validation of the assay in a clinical setting using their own sequencing platforms. Another partner in the project, CIS Healthcare, is a market leader in chemotherapy prescription management software. Results from the molecular profiling assay will be integrated into CIS Healthcare’s novel ChemoCare diagnostic module, thereby providing clinicians with up-to-date, accurate and consistent information with which to make treatment decisions.

About OGT

OGT, a Sysmex Group company, is a leading global provider of clinical and diagnostic genomic solutions that are created for scientists by scientists - including CytoCell^®, CytoSure^® and SureSeq™ ranges of FISH, microarray and NGS products. The company is dedicated to creating products that enable researchers and clinical decision makers to reach the right care decisions for each patient, every time. OGT strives to unlock the future of genetic clinical care with a commitment to working in partnership with its customers - not only by sharing its expertise of 25 years at the forefront of genetic endeavour, but also by working closely with scientists to understand their unique challenges, and to customise its approach to meet their exact needs. Dedicated to improving clinical care, OGT believes that through partnership—together—we’ll achieve more.

For more information on the Company, please visit our website at ogt.com

CytoSure^®, SureSeq™ and myProbes^®: For Research Use Only, not for use in diagnostic procedures. CytoCell: Some products may not be available in your region.

About Sysmex Corporation

Sysmex Corporation is a world leader in clinical laboratory systemization and solutions, including laboratory diagnostics, laboratory automation and clinical information systems. Serving customers for more than 50 years, Sysmex focuses on technological leadership in diagnostic science and information tools that make a difference in the health of people worldwide. The company is also exploring emerging opportunities in the life science field. Its R&D efforts focus on the development of high-value-added testing and diagnostic technologies that are innovative, original and optimize individual health. Sysmex also seeks to leverage its state-of-the-art technologies for cell, gene and protein analysis. The company, headquartered in Kobe, Japan, has subsidiaries in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China and Asia Pacific and employs more than 9,000 employees worldwide. Sysmex Corporation is listed in the top tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

For more information about Sysmex Corporation and its affiliate companies, please visit www.sysmex.co.jp/en/.