The capture, growth and genetic analysis of CTC in PDAC: What can it tell us about this disease?

CTC captured by ScreenCell devices were detected in patients with resectable PDAC.  These CTC are capable of in-vitro growth confirming tumorigenicity.  Selective deep sequencing demonstrated the feasibility of identifying mutations present in the primary tumor and their corresponding CTC.

Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s Third Annual Circulating Tumor Cells

Expediting Clinical Use

Part of the Twentieth Annual Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference
February 13-15, 2013 | Moscone North Convention Center | San Francisco, CA

 Paris– ScreenCell today released a white paper that details a “next generation” technology for fast isolation of undamaged fixed cells and viable live circulating tumor cells.

The white paper entitled Rapid and Simple isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells for Clinical and Research Applications using ScreenCell (http://www.screencell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ScreenCell-White-Paper.pdf) highlights the difficulty most systems have of effectively isolating cells and details the advantages brought by the use of non invasive handheld – independent of any equipment – innovating devices.

Most commonly used systems base CTC capture according to their expressed level of certain protein such as EpCam, this approach generates biases and does not allow the isolation of cells not expressing those specific markers as it is the case for certain types of cancer such as melanoma or pancreas, or expressing those markers but only before their epithelial – mezenchymal transition.

Size base cell selection suppresses the bias introduced by antibody based cell capture.

CTCs isolation systems, especially when they can be used as point of care devices – such as ScreenCells’ –  are the only non invasive approach allowing to:

• Understand the mechanisms responsible for disease or tumor progression
• Monitor the efficacy of targeted therapies and patients’ treatments
• Allow earlier prediction of metastatic risks

About ScreenCell

ScreenCell was founded with the objective of designing and producing a simple but revolutionary technique allowing the fast and effective isolating of fixed and live Rare Circulating Cells yielding free of any bias CTC population amenable to better cellular and molecular characterization important in cancer monitoring. The technology also contributes to the development of a new non-invasive approach to prenatal diagnosis.

Contact:

Michèle Arnoe

VP Business Development

+33 (0)1 53 61 37 96

Sabine Mai, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology,
Professor, University of Manitoba ,
Director, The Genomic Centre for Cancer Research and Diagnosis.

Dr Mai, will present 3D Nuclear Telomere Parameters Define CTC Subpopulations :

• Introduction to the 3D telomere platform for cancer diagnosis
• Overview of quantitative software (TeloView and TeloScan)
• Outline of data obtained with CTCs isolated using the ScreenCell device

BioView Ltd. (TASE: BIOV) and ScreenCell, a privately-held company, today jointly announced the signing of a commercial collaboration agreement for Bioview’s Automated Cell Imaging Systems for imaging of CTC’s isolated with ScreenCell’s Cyto Kit ®.

Dr. Alan Schwebel, President and CEO of BioView, views this agreement as a unique combination of two innovative technologies, one designed by ScreenCell to isolate rare cells of potentially significant prognostic and predictive value in cancer, and another, BioView’s scanning platform, which provides automated imaging and analysis solutions for rare cell and circulating tumor cell detection. “BioView’s unique automated imaging and analysis solutions for the detection and of rare cells greatly enhance research and clinical laboratory productivity and assay development process. We are proud to be ScreenCell’s global partner and look forward to expanding our relationship.”

Bioview’s Imaging Systems are designed to accommodate both the need for CTC enumeration and retrieval of cellular and marker characteristics of captured cells. Utilizing field-proven algorithms developed and perfected in collaboration with leading cancer research centers worldwide, BioView’s scanning platform is the ideal solution for both clinical and research laboratories wishing to enhance their productivity and assay development processes.

ScreenCell offers innovative, single-use devices to isolate by size and characterize a wide variety of tumor cells, both live and fixed, including mesenchymal cells, cancer stem cells, microembolii and cancer cells of non-epithelial origin. These cells, which are considered to be important in metastasis, are often not captured or cannot be sensitively detected through existing technologies that only target cells expressing EpCam, a transmembrane glycoprotein on epithelial cells. With the ScreenCell devices, collected cells are also well preserved morphologically and can be isolated and grown in culture for drug screening or further genomics analysis.

“Our goal in designing ScreenCell technologies was to create a universal system, not limited to detection of cells of non-epithelial origin and free of any bias potentially linked to the use of antibodies for cell capture,” stated David Znaty, Chief Executive Officer of ScreenCell. “Our objective is to support a breakthrough in personalized medicine by creating a non-invasive evaluation of specific therapeutic targets and ‘real time’ monitoring of target evolution which we strongly believe will be facilitated by combining ScreenCell and BioView technologies.”

About BioView Ltd.

Established in 2000, and led by an expert team of biologists, software engineers and physicists, BioView develops, manufactures and supplies cell imaging equipment, biological kits and software to medical institutes and universities.  BioView is a publicly traded company on the Israeli Stock exchange, and currently has strategic collaborations underway with international scientific leaders and institutions. For more information about the BioView technology, and press related issues, please contact alan@bioview.co.il or visit our website at http://www.bioview.co.il.

About ScreenCell

ScreenCell was founded with the objective of designing and producing a simple but revolutionary technique allowing the fast and effective filtering of Rare Circulating Cells yielding high-quality CTC population amenable to better cellular and molecular characterization.

ScreenCell designed a full range of point of care devices for development for use in in vitro Diagnostics (IVD) assays and platforms.

ScreenCell is dedicated to creating technologies allowing CTCs to become potential end points in future oncology therapeutic arsenals by filtering out healthy live tumor cells, thus enabling:

• molecular biology
• cell culture
• enumeration and cytomorphology evaluation

Contact Information:

BioView Dr. Alan Schwebel President and CEO  Tel:  +972-8-936-6868 alan@bioview.co.il

ScreenCell David Znaty CEO  +33(0)1-53-61-91-33 dznaty@screencell.com

415, Summer Street  Boston, MA 02210, Etats-Unis

HALL  A – Booth : 1043

Affymetrix releases first CTC platform for 4-color RNA-ISH

Combination of ScreenCell’s isolation devices and Affymetrix’ QuantiGene® ViewRNA ISH technology enables easy, accessible, sensitive, multiplex, low-cost system to enumerate and characterize CTCs and other rare cells.

SANTA CLARA,Calif., &PARIS,France– May 17, 2012 – Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) and ScreenCell, a privately-held company, today announced the signing of a worldwide distribution agreement for ScreenCell’s isolation devices and dilution buffers,* designed for the collection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood.

The agreement makes Affymetrix the exclusive distributor of ScreenCell® products* used in combination with in situ hybridization (ISH) assays, microarray assays, and other non-PCR based nucleic acid assays including Affymetrix’ industry-leading QuantiGene® ViewRNA Assays,* QuantiGene® Plex Assays,* and GeneChip® Microarray Assays.* The QuantiGene® ViewRNA CTC platform, consist of ScreenCell’s products and Affymetrix’ QuantiGene ViewRNA Assays, is now available from Affymetrix.

“This agreement is a powerful combination of two innovative technologies, one designed to isolate rare cells of potentially significant prognostic and predictive value in cancer, and another, our QuantiGene ViewRNA ISH Cell Assays, designed to detect single RNA transcripts in single CTCs and rare cells with high specificity,” stated George Bers, Vice President & General Manager, Expression Business Unit – Panomics for Affymetrix. “Today we are launching our CTC platform, which combines our highly sensitive and specific QuantiGene ViewRNA Assay with ScreenCell’s isolation devices. We believe this platform may potentially have a dramatic impact on disease detection, enabling researchers in translational sciences to further examine the impact on treatment, management and outcome in cancer. We are proud to be ScreenCell’s global partner and look forward to releasing additional assays and research applications.”

ScreenCell offers innovative, single-use devices to isolate by size and characterize a wide variety of tumor cells, both live and fixed, including mesenchymal cells, cancer stem cells, microembolii and cancer cells of non-epithelial origin. These cells, which are considered to be important in metastasis, are often not captured or cannot be sensitively detected through existing technologies that only target cells expressing EpCam, a transmembrane glycoprotein on epithelial cells. With the ScreenCell devices, collected cells are also well preserved morphologically and can be isolated and grown in culture for drug screening or further genomics analysis.

“Our goal in designing ScreenCell® technologies was to create a universal system, not limited to detection of cells of non-epithelial origin and free of any bias potentially linked to the use of antibodies for cell capture,” stated David Znaty, Chief Executive Officer of ScreenCell. “Our goal is to provide a technology to support further research for use in personalized medicine by creating a broadly accessible, non-invasive evaluation of specific, potential therapeutic targets. We are excited to work with Affymetrix not just for their commercial strength, but because we believe strongly in our combined technologies.”

* “For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.”

PLEASE NOTE: Affymetrix®, the Affymetrix logo, GeneChip®, and QuantiGene® are registered trademarks of Affymetrix, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About ScreenCell

ScreenCell was founded with the objective of designing and producing a simple but revolutionary technique allowing the fast and effective filtering of Rare Circulating Cells yielding high-quality CTC population amenable to better cellular and molecular characterization.

ScreenCell designed a full range of point of care devices for development for use in in vitro Diagnostics (IVD) assays and platforms.

ScreenCell is dedicated to creating technologies allowing CTCs to become potential end points in future oncology therapeutic arsenals by filtering out healthy live tumor cells, thus enabling:

• molecular biology
• cell culture
• enumeration and cytomorphology evaluation

For more information about ScreenCell, please visit www.screencell.com.

About Affymetrix

Affymetrix technology is used by the world’s top pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotechnology companies, as well as leading academic, government, and nonprofit

research institutes. More than 25,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and has manufacturing facilities in Santa Clara, Cleveland, Ohio, and Singapore. The company has about 900 employees worldwide and maintains sales and distribution operations across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit www.affymetrix.com.

Forward-looking statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as amended, including statements regarding Affymetrix’ “expectations,” “beliefs,” “hopes,” “intentions,” “strategies” or the like. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially for Affymetrix from those projected. These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix’ Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, and other SEC reports for subsequent quarterly periods.

Affymetrix, Inc.

Media Contact:

Mindy Lee-Olsen

Vice President, Marketing Services

+(1) 408-731-5523

mindy_lee-olsen@affymetrix.com

 Investor Contact:

Doug Farrell

Vice President, Investor Relations

+(1) 408-731-5285

doug_farrell@affymetrix.com

 ScreenCell

Media Contact:

David Znaty

CEO

+33 (0) 1 53 61 91 33

contact@screencell.com

Sabine Mai, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology,
Professor, University of Manitoba ,
Director, The Genomic Centre for Cancer Research and Diagnosis.

Dr Mai, will present 3D Nuclear Telomere Parameters Define CTC Subpopulations :

• Introduction to the 3D telomere platform for cancer diagnosis
• Overview of quantitative software (TeloView and TeloScan)
• Outline of data obtained with CTCs isolated using the ScreenCell device

http://www.triconference.com/

Presentation: Tuesday, February 22 at 1:pm
Yvon Cayre, MD, DSci, Chief Scientific Officer, ScreenCell

OMAHA, Neb. & PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Transgenomic, Inc. (OTC/BB: TBIO) and ScreenCell, a privately- held company, today announced the signing of a perpetual, worldwide collaboration and distribution agreement for ScreenCell’s Isolation Devices and Dilution Buffers, designed for the collection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood. ScreenCell® offers innovative, single-use devices to isolate by size and characterize all possible tumor cells, including mesenchymal cells. Mesenchymal cells, thought to be cancer stem cells important in cancer assessment, are not collected through technologies that only target cells expressing EpCam, a transmembrane glycoprotein on epithelial cells. Their collection is therefore a key advantage of ScreenCell’s technologies. Collected cells are also well preserved morphologically, allowing isolation of live cells able to grow in culture and collection of high quality genetic materials.

The agreement makes Transgenomic the exclusive distributor of ScreenCell technologies used in combination with Transgenomic’s industry leading high-sensitivity mutation detection products, including its ICE COLD-PCR assays, BLOCker-Sequencing cancer mutation assays, SURVEYOR Scan cancer mutation kits and WAVE instrument systems. The Company expects to begin selling ScreenCell products immediately, in combination with Transgenomic technology, as part of its pharmacogenomic services and for other, non-exclusive broad research applications to drug developers and academic centers.

“This agreement is an important marriage of technologies, one designed to isolate rare cells of potentially significant prognostic value in cancer, and another, our ICE-COLD PCR, designed to enrich mutations to levels that can be detected even in small CTC cell loads and amidst competing wild-type DNA,” stated Craig Tuttle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transgenomic. “In the longer-term, we look forward to offering CTC collection as a combined kit product with our ICE-COLD PCR kits. Combined again with our ultra high-sensitivity genetic variation and mutation analysis capabilities, we believe this platform may have a dramatic impact on disease detection, treatment, management and outcome in cancer. We are proud to be ScreenCell’s first global partner and look forward to our validation work with these technologies.”

“Our goal in designing ScreenCell technologies was to create a universal system, not limited to detection of cells of nonepithelial origin and free of any bias potentially linked to the use of antibodies for cell capture,” stated David Znaty, Chief Executive Officer of ScreenCell. “Our goal is to support a breakthrough in personalized medicine by creating a non-invasive evaluation of specific therapeutic targets and ‘real time’ monitoring of target evolution under the pressure of targeted therapies in cancer. We are excited to work with Transgenomic not just for their commercial strength, but because we believe strongly in our combined technologies.”

Both companies have agreed to support the development of the combined technologies which, to date, have been tested in a proof of concept study at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Transgenomic and ScreenCell plan additional validation efforts with Dana Farber and other key researcher institutions to further establish the ability to isolate CTCs and, using the combined products, find new marker genes which may be involved in early diagnostic as well as mutations involved in determining, prognosis and therapeutic response. Transgenomic plans to begin the validation process for the combined products immediately, with the goal of commercializing such an offering for clinical trial use.

About Transgenomic

Transgenomic, Inc. (www.transgenomic.com) is a global biotechnology company advancing personalized medicine in cancer and inherited diseases through its proprietary molecular technologies and world-class clinical and research services. The Company has three complementary business divisions: Transgenomic Pharmacogenomic Services is a contract research laboratory that specializes in supporting all phases of pre- clinical and clinical trials for oncology drugs in development. Transgenomic Clinical Laboratories specializes in molecular diagnostics for cardiology, neurology, mitochondrial disorders, and oncology. Transgenomic Diagnostic Tools produces equipment, reagents, and other consumables that empower clinical and research applications in molecular testing and cytogenetics. Transgenomic believes there is significant opportunity for continued growth across all three businesses by leveraging their synergistic capabilities, technologies, and expertise. The Company actively develops and acquires new technology and other intellectual property that strengthen its leadership in personalized medicine.

About ScreenCell

ScreenCell was founded with the objective of designing and producing a simple but revolutionary technique allowing the fast and effective filtering of Rare Circulating Cells yielding high quality CTC population amenable to better cellular and molecular characterization.

ScreenCell designed a full range of point of care devices compatible with existing In vitro Diagnostics (IVD) assays and platforms, with no need for any interface development.

ScreenCell is dedicated to creating technologies allowing CTCs to become potential end points in future oncology therapeutic arsenals, by filtering out healthy live tumor cells, thus enabling:

. molecular biology

. cell culture

. enumeration and cytomorphology evaluation

The technology has also demonstrated its advantages for the isolation of Circulating Fetal Cells (CFCs) drawn from peripheral blood of pregnant women, potentially leading to a significantly facilitated and cost-effective process for prenatal diagnosis of genetic diseases.

Forward-Looking Statements for Transgenomic

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” of Transgenomic within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those with respect to management’s current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, including the ability of the Company to grow its involvement in the diagnostic products and services markets. The known risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting these forward-looking statements are described from time to time in Transgenomic’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any change in such factors, risks and uncertainties may cause the actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in such statements.

Accordingly, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all statements contained in this press release. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release and Transgenomic does not undertake any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements, unless required by law.

Contacts

Transgenomic Contact

Investor Relations, 402-452-5416

investorrelations@transgenomic.com

or

ScreenCell Contact

Michèle Arnoe, +33 1 53 61 37 96

VP Marketing & Business Development

marnoe@screencell.com

or

Investor Contact

Argot Partners

David Pitts, 212-600-1902

david@argotpartners.com