GeneCentric Therapeutics and Erasmus University Medical Center Enter Bladder Cancer Research Collaboration

GeneCentric Therapeutics, Inc. and Erasmus University Medical Center (EUMC) today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to identify RNA-based drug response markers and novel, targeted therapies in the setting of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The research will comprehensively characterize the tumor and immune biology, as well as the tumor microenviroment related to NMIBC, and will apply GeneCentric's Bladder Cancer Subtype Profiler (BSPtm), among other novel assays, to predict disease progression and drug response in these patients.

The collaboration, led at EUMC by Tahlita Zuiverloon, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator at the Erasmus MC Urothelial Cancer Research Group (EUCRG), will involve the retrospective longitudinal, genomic analysis of samples from a sizeable cohort of NMIBC patients who received surgery and adjuvant treatment. "This collaboration will provide a more complete and fundamental understanding of NMIBC drivers of disease progression, innate and active immune system involvement, and factors related to treatment response and failure or drug resistance," said Dr Zuiverloon. "We look forward to the new insights that the application of GeneCentric's comprehensive molecular profiling platform can provide as we eagerly pursue new therapeutic options for NMIBC patients."

"To date, genomic subtypes for disease progression risk and drug response to NMIBC have not been well characterized," said Dr. Mike Milburn, President and CEO of GeneCentric Therapeutics. "This exciting research collaboration has potential to augment our molecular gene signatures to help define these subtypes and inform clinical decision making and drug development. There is a significant clinical need and opportunity to improve outcomes, as treatment of NMIBC is evolving with the emergence of novel targeted therapies, potentially including FGFR inhibitors, in addition to the current standard of care."

About Erasmus MC
Erasmus MC is the largest University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Our primary goal is a healthy population. Nearly 13,000 employees devote themselves every day to providing outstanding care, facilitating world-class education and conducting pioneering research. These professionals are instrumental in developing expertise on health and illness. They link the latest scientific insights to practical treatments and prevention measures to provide maximum benefit to patients and to enable healthy people to stay healthy longer. Being visibly better and leading the way in the areas of complex, innovative and acute care by collaborating with others: these are key ambitions at Erasmus MC.

About Erasmus MC Urothelial Cancer Research Group (EUCRG)
EUCRG aims to unravel the molecular biology of urothelial cancer and to improve diagnosis and outcome of urothelial cancer patients through risk stratification, personalized medicine and clinical trials with novel therapies. Research activities focus on: identification and validation of novel urinary and tumor biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of urothelial cancer; functional genomics studies in chemo-resistant muscle-invasive bladder cancer; prediction models for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer; development of digital pathology tools for bladder cancer; development of pre-clinical research models.

About GeneCentric
GeneCentric Therapeutics, Inc., based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., is an RNA-based genomic solutions provider. The company's technologies are designed to parse the complexity of tumor and immune biology to discover and develop signatures of responder populations to oncology drugs. GeneCentric is commercializing its technology through strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics companies in applications throughout pre-clinical testing, clinical drug development and commercialization lifecycle phases. In addition to bladder cancer, GeneCentric has gene expression-based Cancer Profilers for lung, head and neck, pancreatic, kidney, glioblastoma, melanoma and multiple myeloma, as well as signatures to characterize therapeutic cancer targets such as PD(L)-1, PARP, FGFR2/3, and specific cytokines. For more information, please visit www.genecentric.com.