GATC Biotech's liquid biopsy testing starts from as little as EUR 195 per sample

KONSTANZ, Germany - March 21, 2016 - PRLog -- GATC Biotech AG, a world-wide leading provider of advanced genome analysis and diagnostic services, has announced the pricing of the company's liquid biopsy-based services - ONCOEXOME, ONCOPANEL and ONCOTARGET. The prices, released during this week's 10th International Symposium on Minimal Residual Cancer (ISMRC), start from as little as EUR 195 per sample.

"By adopting this highly competitive pricing strategy, we are responding to the market's demand for greater accessibility to our liquid biopsy technology. Clinicians can now quickly and accurately characterise cancer so that they can react to this progressive disease in a timely manner," said Peter Pohl, CEO and co-founder of GATC Biotech.

The three GATCLIQUID services allow highly sensitive detection of genomic alterations in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) to capture the entire heterogeneity of cancer. They provide clinical researchers the opportunity to interrogate a whole range of tumour-related mutations that help characterise a patient's cancer from a simple blood sample.

"As cancer evolves, so must the tools to fight the disease with greater effectiveness," added Dr Marcus Benz, COO of GATC Biotech. "Due to excellent performance standards, the GATCLIQUID services are poised to play a key role in revolutionising blood-based cancer research and diagnostics."

By avoiding risk-prone and painful re-biopsies, GATCLIQUID is well-suited for treatment monitoring and therapy decision making in cases of cancer recurrence. ONCOTARGET can be effectively applied to reveal additional therapeutic options for patients with cancer relapse or acquired drug resistance.

"We are proud partners with the oncology community, and this latest move is driven by the desire to facilitate greater physician and patient accessibility to evaluative testing that leads to truly effective treatment. The advantages of liquid biopsy combined with our pricing make GATCLIQUID an ideal tool for monitoring a patient's cancer at close intervals," added Peter Pohl.

The GATCLIQUID services are available at the following net prices per sample:

ONCOTARGET for EUR 195 | ONCOPANEL for EUR 1,450 | ONCOEXOME for EUR 2,950

All samples are processed at GATC Biotech's own laboratories under ISO 17025 accreditation and ISO 13485 certification. GATCLIQUID is applicable to patients with solid tumours, such as lung, skin, breast, intestinal or ovarian cancer.

For more information on GATCLIQUID please visit www.liquidbiopsy.com.

About GATCLIQUID
Our liquid biopsy-based service family offers cancer characterisation from a simple blood sample. Painful and costly tissue biopsies are replaced by non-invasive analysis of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). This offers clinical researchers the opportunity to explore, screen and monitor a wide range of tumour-related mutations for close surveillance of tumour dynamics and cancer heterogeneity in individual patients.

Depending on specific requirements, the GATC Biotech research service offers:

ONCOEXOME - Unbiased overview of all mutations in protein coding regions
ONCOPANEL - Targeted screening for key cancer drivers
ONCOTARGET - Ultra-sensitive monitoring of the most important mutation

About GATC Biotech
GATC Biotech, a family owned business since 1990, is Europe's leading sequencing services provider with more than 10,000 customers from academia, healthcare and industry worldwide. The company consistently contributes to the sequencing field with innovative products, scientific expertise and rigorous quality. Currently, the entrepreneurial energy is concentrated on a completely new approach in the area of personalised medicine. GATCLIQUID is the world's first liquid biopsy- based service for cancer research and diagnosis.

As a renowned brand, GATC Biotech offers all leading sequencing technologies in its own laboratories in Cologne and Constance, Germany. The company's proprietary workflows deliver ready-for-diagnostics results backed by ISO 17025 accreditation and ISO 13485 certification. From Sanger to next-generation sequencing, GATC Biotech offers unmatched flexibility to customers interested in any kind of genomics such as transcriptome, epigenome, exome or whole genome analysis.

GATC Biotech has a proven record of publicly funded projects by the EU and other national agencies. The company has formed numerous successful collaborations with world-renowned universities, academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies.

Please visit www.gatc-biotech.com for more information about genomic innovation - Made in Germany.

Contact GATC Biotech
Dr. Helge Schnerr
GATC Biotech AG
Phone: +49 (0) 7531 81 60 4154
h.schnerr@gatc-biotech.com