London, UK – 7 November 2017 – NetScientific plc (“NetScientific”, AIM:NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation group, notes that its portfolio company, Vortex BioSciences, today announced its first direct commercial sale of its VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System, a fully automated benchtop system for collecting intact Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs).
Vortex’s VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System automates the capture and collection of viable CTCs directly from whole blood for analysis. Circulating tumour cells, which are shed into the circulation, offer researchers new insights into patients’ cancer biology. Using proprietary microfluidics technology, the Vortex VTX-1 traps unlabeled CTCs in microscale vortices from whole blood, allowing researchers to perform processes such as whole genome amplification (WGA) and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) to better understand cancer progression and potentially develop new methods of disease identification and monitoring.
Commenting on the news, Francois Martelet, Chairman of Vortex BioSciences Inc. and CEO of NetScientific said: “We are delighted to announce the first sale of Vortex’s VTX-1, which represents an important step in the Company’s commercialisation journey. The system combines industry-leading purity and high CTC capture rates of between 65%-75%, which we believe can give researchers the opportunity to open new windows into our understanding of cancer. Vortex Biosciences is a core element of NetScientific’s portfolio, and we believe the performance of the VTX-1 system and its ease of use, will ensure it emerges as a leader in the highly exciting and rapidly developing CTC field.”
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For more information, please contact:
NetScientific
François R. Martelet, M.D., CEO
Ian Postlethwaite, CFO
Tel: +44 (0)20 3514 1800
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson /
Chris Welsh / Laura Thornton
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
netscientific@consilium-comms.com
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (NOMAD and Broker)
Jonathan Senior / David Arch / Ben Maddison
Vortex Biosciences
Steve Crouse
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 7600
Tel: +1 (0) 415 823 7649
steve@vortexbiosciences.com
About NetScientific
NetScientific is a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net
Vortex Biosciences Announces First Commercial Sale of the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System
The VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System’s Innovative Approach Represents the Next Step in CTC Isolation Systems
MENLO PARK, CA, November 07 – Vortex Biosciences, provider of circulating tumor cell (CTC) capture systems, today announced the first commercial sale of the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System, a fully automated benchtop system for collecting intact CTCs. The VTX-1 utilizes proprietary microfluidics to automate the isolation of CTCs directly from whole blood based on the larger size and deformability of the cells.
Shed by tumors into the circulation, CTCs offer a window into the cancer biology of a patient. Isolating and characterizing CTCs gives researchers new insight and the potential to transform our understanding of cancer, improving the way cancer is diagnosed and treated. However, capturing CTCs out of blood to enable characterization is not easy. CTCs are relatively scarce, with concentrations as low as 1–10 CTCs/mL of whole blood, against a background of millions of white blood cells and billions of red blood cells.
Vortex’s VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System automates the capture and collection of viable CTCs directly from whole blood for analysis. Using proprietary microfluidics, the VTX-1 traps unlabeled CTCs in microscale vortices while red and white blood cells flow past. After selective trapping into the microfluidic chambers, CTCs are then released and collected into a container for downstream analysis.
“We are excited to achieve our first commercial sale of the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System.” commented Gene Walther, Chief Executive Officer at Vortex Biosciences. “The reaction to the VTX-1 throughout the marketplace has been unbelievably positive, confirming both the tremendous potential CTCs offer and the unique value of the VTX-1.”
The VTX-1’s innovative approach towards capturing CTCs offers a number of advantages over other commercial CTC isolation systems. With an automated and simple workflow, capacity for unbiased CTC capture, high CTC recovery, high CTC purity and ease of integration with downstream assays, the VTX-1 represents the next step in CTC isolation systems.
About Vortex Biosciences
Vortex Biosciences is a cancer research and diagnostics company that integrates cancer biology, microfluidic engineering and informatics to develop tools for isolating and characterizing circulating tumor cells. The Vortex VTX-1 instrument received CE Mark and FDA Class 1 registration in 2016 and in 2017 launched in US and Europe. It works by harvesting intact circulating tumor cells from whole blood samples for use in downstream research and clinical applications such as patient stratification in clinical trials, monitoring disease progression and drug treatment effectiveness. With a mission to enable noninvasive diagnosis of cancer and real-time monitoring throughout a patient’s treatment, Vortex is at the forefront of accelerating cancer research and improving patient outcomes. Vortex is a core subsidiary of NetScientific plc, a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercializing technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, visit www.vortexbiosciences.com.
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