BiOptic Inc. announced yesterday (26 June) that it has acquired 100% of the shares of CatchGene for NT$48 million, thus officially entering the cancer genetic testing market and taking a step towards becoming a full-service molecular testing solution provider.
BiOptic is an innovative medical device company focused establishing high-quality, value-added, and customer-driven OEM/ODM solutions by developing and manufacturing products utilizing Capillary Gel Electrophoresis (CGE) Technology for biotechnology laboratories all over the world. The iCATCHER automated nucleic acid extraction system is currently available to extract very small amounts of ctDNA (circulating tumour DNA) from liquid samples for applications such as cancer prediction, cancer diagnosis and cancer tracking.
The ctDNA is a characteristic biomarker that is usually present at very low levels in the bloodstream. However, it is well documented that the use of high-throughput sequencing to identify tumour cells or free DNA fragments in human blood, urine or saliva can be used as a tool for cancer detection and high frequency monitoring, also known as "liquid biopsy".
Compared to traditional pathology, where a portion of cancerous tissue must be obtained by invasive means before a judgement can be made, liquid biopsy requires only the patient's body fluid as the test body, eliminating the pain and risk of incision, and therefore has high potential for development.
With the advancement of NGS technology, the use of liquid biopsy instead of solid tumour biopsy is a popular trend in cancer clinical applications in recent years," said BIOptic. Through this acquisition, the two companies have effectively integrated their resources and technologies. With BIOptic's Qsep series of platforms, this highly sensitive platform can be the best tool for ctDNA analysis, and in the future, together with the iCATCHER extractor from CatchGene, it will provide a new generation of comprehensive cancer genetic testing, monitoring and prevention for personalised precision medicine.
According to market research firm Precedence Research, the global liquid biopsy market will reach US$7.1 billion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 14% due to the continued growth in the number of new patients each year, and is expected to reach US$26.2 billion by 2030.
