Biocartis and Abbott Announce Exclusive Partnership to Develop Multiplex Companion Diagnostics Tests

Agreement expected to fuel new pharmaceutical partnerships for companion diagnostics programs

Biocartis and Abbott today announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics tests. Under the agreement, the companies will leverage Biocartis' molecular diagnostics system, Idylla™, and Abbott's regulatory, scientific and commercialization expertise.

"Much of the current molecular diagnostic practice involves a series of specialized, labor intensive and time-consuming steps," said Rudi Pauwels, CEO and Chairman, Biocartis. "Our Idylla™ system is extremely easy-to-use and provides rapid results, offering doctors quick and easy access to individual patient biomarker data anywhere and anytime. We are excited to combine strengths with Abbott in order to make this new generation of diagnostic solutions available to patients globally."

In partnership with pharmaceutical companies, Biocartis and Abbott will create various biomarker panels for use on the Idylla™ system, where each marker in the panel has a known clinical significance. Multiplexing, or the ability to analyze multiple molecular markers simultaneously, is important for pharmaceutical partners that need to analyze multiple biomarkers in their clinical trials and ultimately helps physicians obtain more useful information from limited patient samples. Biocartis' Idylla™ system features a unique, integrated, “sample in, result out” technology, to generate high quality molecular test results.

"As a leading diagnostics partner in developing companion diagnostic tests, Abbott is excited to help bring new testing opportunities to the field of personalized medicine," said Deepak Nath, president, Molecular Diagnostics, Abbott. "This agreement is not only a strategic business fit in expanding our companion diagnostics partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies, but ultimately, it enables us to help improve the lives of cancer patients worldwide. "

About Biocartis

Biocartis strives to transform the global diagnostics market by providing instant access to personalized medicine for patients worldwide. The company develops fully integrated and broadly applicable molecular diagnostic solutions that can be used in a wide variety of healthcare settings to provide rapid, high-quality care to patients.

Biocartis has established in house commercial scale manufacturing capabilities and is geared towards formal CE marking of its Idylla™ system and its first oncology assay by September 2014. Biocartis and its partners are developing a range of diagnostic tests in oncology and infectious diseases.

Please visit Biocartis at www.biocartis.com

About Abbott Molecular

Abbott Molecular is a leader in molecular diagnostics – the analysis of DNA and RNA at the molecular level. Abbott Molecular's tests can also detect subtle but key changes in patients' genes and chromosomes and have the potential to aid with early detection or diagnosis, can influence the selection of appropriate therapies, and may assist with monitoring of disease progression.