Webcast On CombiMatrix's Comprehensive Cancer Array Available On Website
Wednesday October 8, 6:00 am ET
MUKILTEO, Wash., Oct. 8, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CombiMatrix Corporation (NasdaqGM:CBMX - News) held a web-broadcast on October 7, 2008 to discuss its development of a Comprehensive Cancer Array (CCA) test for the non-invasive screening of multiple cancers simultaneously. The CCA is a test that is in CombiMatrix's development pipeline and is planned for launch in 18-24 months.
The CCA is intended to measure, in peripheral blood, the existence and abundance of miRNA molecules that are indicative of tumor growth at the earliest stages. In general, cancers that can be treated and have high survivability statistics are those that can be identified early. Cancers with poor survivability statistics are those that are difficult to identify until they are more advanced and difficult to treat. While there have been many attempts to develop non-invasive biomarker screens for the early screening and detection of tumor growths, few have been successful due to the difficulty in measuring low abundance biomarkers in blood or other fluids.
Recent discoveries, of a new type of nucleic acid known as miRNA (micro-ribonucleic acid), indicate that these molecules are much more stable in blood than other cellular components. Unique sequences of miRNAs are also characteristic of specific tumor growths. Therefore, a method to measure the existence and abundance of these molecules can potentially enable the early identification and site of tumor growth. Because the measurements will be made using CombiMatrix's array platform, it is expected that multiple cancers can be screened simultaneously in a single non-invasive test.
CombiMatrix estimates that the market opportunity for this test is greater than $12 billion and could have dramatic implications on public health. During the web-broadcast, Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of CombiMatrix, discussed the development, the technical issues, the market opportunity, and other aspects of this test.
The webcast may be accessed on CombiMatrix's website, combimatrix.com, in the Investor/Events section (http://investor.combimatrix.com/events.cfm) beginning late in the day on October 8, 2008 |
