Cerca's Commercial Team Begins Worldwide Marketing of the PCR Test of MammaTyper® for Precision Subtyping of Breast Cancer
FRANKFURT, GERMANY, November 10, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Cerca Biotech GmbH (“Cerca”), a Germany-based diagnostic company in oncology and women’s health, announced an asset purchase agreement with BioNTech Diagnostics AG (“BioNTech”) relating to MammaTyper®, a molecular diagnostics for breast cancer subtyping. Under the agreement, Cerca will acquire from BioNTech its rights and interest in MammaTyper® and the associated nucleic acid extraction kit RNXtract®. Cerca will be responsible for the development and commercialization of the products worldwide.
MammaTyper® is a standardised multiplex real-time PCR test that quantifies mRNA levels of four essential breast cancer biomarkers (ER, PgR, HER2, and Ki-67) to classify breast cancer into subtypes according to the St Gallen 2013 Guideline. Breast cancer subtyping is a pre-requisite and essential to clinical decision making and treatment planning.
“We have the passion and the knowledge to really make a change for breast cancer patients, and we believe MammaTyper® will be a cornerstone of our IVD business in the EMEA region.”
— Rich Hughes
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the conventional technique for breast cancer subtyping, and is labour-intensive, time-consuming, and associated with intra-/inter-laboratory variation. The robust qPCR-based MammaTyper® assay takes away such issues of IHC, providing more objective, accurate and highly-reproducible results while saving both time and money. The MammaTyper® kit is also compatible with various RT-qPCR platforms commonly found in the majority of hospital laboratories.
“We have been working with BioNTech for the past five years in the development and commercialization of MammaTyper®, and have generated a significant amount of clinical data to demonstrate the obvious benefits of this assay in the management of breast cancer patients,” said Jay Z. Zhang, CEO of Shuwen Biotech, Cerca’s parent company. “This acquisition allows us to dedicate greater resources to make MammaTyper® more widely available to breast cancer patients, and further grow Cerca into a leading provider of innovative diagnostics in oncology and women’s health.”
Richard Hughes, Commercial Director of Cerca Biotech, commented: “We have assembled a great team of seasoned commercial IVD professionals from across the region and beyond to help move the critical subtyping of breast tumours into the 21st century. We have the passion and the knowledge to really make a change for breast cancer patients, and we believe MammaTyper® will be a cornerstone of our IVD business in the EMEA region. Immediately following MammaTyper®, we expect to launch a series of innovative diagnostic products in oncology and women’s health.”
Mr. Hughes continues: “While the Covid-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for both the screening and treatment of breast cancer, the one bright light is that many hospitals and healthcare systems now have improved access to modern RT-qPCR technology that has been used in diagnosing Covid-19. We would like to help healthcare professionals to use that same technology to make a giant step forward in the critical initial diagnostic phase of breast cancer.”
Cerca Biotech will be exhibiting at the Medica International Trade fair in Dusseldorf from the 15th to 18th November, in Dusseldorf, Germany, in Hall One, stand F41.
About Cerca:
Cerca Biotech is a Germany-based diagnostic company focused on bringing novel and innovative diagnostic products to the oncology and women’s health market. We strive to introduce the best tests to meet the unmet clinical needs at an affordable cost, with clinical accuracy and rapid results to the fore. Utilising a mixture of experienced distributions and some direct sales Cerca has a commercial reach from Germany through the Nordics and Eastern Europe to the Middle East, India and beyond. Our team comprises of highly experienced commercial, technical and clinical experts in the field of IVD, allowing rapid deployment of novel technologies with a ‘get it right first time’ strategy. Cerca Biotech is an affiliated subsidiary of Shuwen Biotech. For more information, please visit: www.cercabiotech.com.
Contact for Cerca and MammaTyper®:
Richard Hughes
rich@cercabiotech.com
Richard Hughes
Cerca Biotech GmbH
+44 (0)7376 061 071
rich@cercabiotech.com
