Alliance with the Lung Cancer Initiative at
Johnson & Johnson to Accelerate Development of First Nasal Swab
Test for Early Lung Cancer Detection
Veracyte to Host Conference Call and Webcast on
January 3, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. ET
Veracyte, Inc. (“Veracyte”) (Nasdaq: VCYT) announced today that
it has entered into a long-term strategic collaboration with
Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC* and the Lung Cancer
Initiative at Johnson & Johnson to advance the development and
commercialization of novel diagnostic tests to detect lung cancer
at its earliest stages, when the disease is most treatable. The
collaboration will build upon foundational "field of injury"
science -- where genomic changes associated with lung cancer can be
identified with a simple brushing of a person's airway -- to
develop new interventions that can save lives.
Under terms of the agreement, Veracyte and the Lung Cancer
Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, whose mission is to prevent,
intercept and cure lung cancer, will combine clinical study cohorts
involving more than 5,000 patients with multiple years of clinical
outcome data. Veracyte will contribute bronchial and nasal samples
from its clinical trials, which are part of the company's extensive
lung cancer-focused biorepository. Veracyte will deploy its RNA
whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, utilizing high-dimensional
data and machine learning pipelines on the combined cohort,
providing the most comprehensive genomic content available which
the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson will have
access to for therapeutic purposes.
The collaboration is expected to accelerate two key lung cancer
programs for Veracyte. First, the development of the first
non-invasive nasal swab test for early lung cancer detection and,
secondly, the commercialization of its Percepta classifier on the
company’s RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing platform, which, as a
result of this collaboration, is expected to launch in the first
half of 2019.
"We are thrilled to team up with Johnson & Johnson and their
Lung Cancer Initiative in the fight against lung cancer," said
Bonnie Anderson, chairman and chief executive officer of Veracyte.
"This strategic collaboration further advances Veracyte’s
pioneering position in lung cancer diagnosis and underscores the
promise of our field of injury science and approach. With the
acceleration of our product pipeline, we believe this collaboration
expands our addressable lung cancer diagnostic market to a $30
billion to $40 billion global opportunity.”
Anderson continued, “We estimate the combined monetary and
non-monetary value of the collaboration to Veracyte at more than
$50 million. The monetary component consists of a $5 million
upfront payment and the potential to earn up to a total of $15
million in future development and reimbursement milestone payments.
The non-monetary value reflects the significant value of clinical
cohorts accessible to Veracyte through the collaboration. Also as
result of this agreement, we expect our biopharmaceutical service
revenue for 2019 to increase by an estimated $5 million.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In
the United States, lung cancer causes more than 154,000 lung
cancer-related deaths each year – more than the next three most
prevalent cancers combined. Because lung cancer is difficult to
diagnose before it has metastasized, only 16 percent of cases are
detected at an early stage, when the disease is more treatable.
Lung cancer's five-year survival rate is only 18 percent, much
lower than that of other common cancers. Approximately 80 percent
of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.
*Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. is the legal entity
party to the agreement.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Veracyte will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast
today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss its collaboration with Johnson
& Johnson Innovation and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson
& Johnson. The call and webcast may be accessed as follows:
Webcast:
https://investor.veracyte.com/events-presentations
Dial-in number (U.S.): (855) 541-0980 International Number (Canada
only): (970) 315-0440 Conference ID: 5295859
The webcast should be accessed 10 minutes prior to the
conference call start time. A replay of the webcast will be
available for one year following the conclusion of the live
broadcast and will be accessible on the company’s website at
https://investor.veracyte.com/events-presentations.
About Veracyte
Veracyte (Nasdaq: VCYT) is a leading genomic diagnostics company
that improves patient care by providing trustworthy and actionable
answers to challenging clinical questions. The company's products
uniquely combine advanced genomic technology, clinical science and
machine learning to provide answers that give physicians and
patients a clear path forward, informing both diagnosis and
treatment decisions without the need for costly, risky surgeries
that are often unnecessary. Since its founding in 2008,
Veracyte has commercialized three genomic tests, which are
transforming the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, lung cancer and
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Veracyte is based in South San
Francisco, California. For more information, please visit
www.veracyte.com and follow the company on Twitter (@veracyte).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such
as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "expect," "believe," "should,"
"may," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of
forward-looking statements include, among others, the expected
impacts of Veracyte’s collaboration with Johnson & Johnson in
developing interventions for lung cancer, on Veracyte’s financial
and operating results, on the timing of the commercialization of
the Percepta classifier, and on the size of Veracyte’s addressable
market. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor
assurances of future performance, but are based only on our current
beliefs, expectations and assumptions. These statements involve
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from our predictions, and include, but are not limited
to: our ability to achieve milestones under the collaboration
agreement with Johnson & Johnson; our ability to achieve and
maintain Medicare coverage for our tests; the benefits of our tests
and the applicability of clinical results to actual outcomes; the
laws and regulations applicable to our business, including
potential regulation by the Food and Drug
Administration or other regulatory bodies; our ability to
successfully achieve and maintain adoption of and reimbursement for
our products; the amount by which use of our products are able to
reduce invasive procedures and misdiagnosis, and reduce healthcare
costs; the occurrence and outcomes of clinical studies; and other
risks set forth in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in our quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof
and Veracyte specifically disclaims any obligation to
update these forward-looking statements or reasons why actual
results might differ, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Veracyte, Afirma, Percepta, Envisia and the Veracyte logo are
trademarks of Veracyte, Inc.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190103005209/en/
Investor and Media
Contact:Angie McCabeVice President, Investor
Relations & Corporate
Communications650-243-6371angie@veracyte.com
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