Rules-Based Medicine Launches OncologyMAP(R) to Advance Cancer-Related Drug and Diagnostic Development

AUSTIN, Texas, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Panel of 101 quantitative biomarker tests selected in partnership with the National Cancer Institute

Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM), a leading provider of innovative biomarker solutions, today formally announced the global launch of OncologyMAP(R), a powerful tool developed at the direction of and with funding from the National Cancer Institute. Through quantitative measurement of 101 cancer-related proteins, OncologyMAP(R) provides researchers with unprecedented data on biological pathways that could hold the key to understanding the molecular basis of cancer. OncologyMAP(R) was released to a limited number of key customers in October, and RBM has received positive feedback from clients who report valuable results in their studies for drug re-tasking, indication expansion, and patient stratification using this cost-effective, comprehensive testing service.

"The use of biomarker tools throughout drug development is a requirement for researchers who must balance leaner R&D budgets with the greater demands for safety, innovation and success," said Craig Benson, RBM president and chief executive officer. "From one drop of serum, OncologyMAP(R) can deliver data that could help solve therapeutic and diagnostic dilemmas related to cancer making this biomarker panel an essential component of the development toolkit."

OncologyMAP(R) provides drug researchers with an accurate and affordable means of evaluating the efficacy and safety of therapeutic candidates. The test is validated to clinical laboratory standards enabling biomarker pattern discoveries made in basic research to be reproducibly extended into clinical trials. The use of sensitive, reproducible biomarker patterns as objective measures of drug efficacy and toxicity can accelerate development efforts and facilitate decision-making to avoid costs associated with late-stage drug attrition.

OncologyMAP(R) is based on RBM's proprietary Multi-Analyte Profiling (MAP) platform, which quantifies key blood-based biomarkers representing dozens of important biological pathways. The multiplexing process allows for heightened efficiency while providing excellent accuracy and precision.

This project was supported with Federal Funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contracts No. HHSN261200700037C and HHSN261200800045C.

About Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.

Rules-Based Medicine's biomarker testing service provides clinical researchers, physicians and healthcare providers with reproducible, quantitative, multiplexed data for hundreds of proteins to advance drug development and patient care. The Company's proprietary Multi Analyte Profiling (MAP) technology offers pre-clinical and clinical researchers broad, cost-effective protein analyses in multiple species from a small sample volume. MAP technology also supports RBM's drive to develop diagnostics that aid in the detection of complex diseases and conditions in areas of unmet medical need such as neuropsychiatry, nephrology, immunology and cardiology. RBM's initial molecular diagnostic test, VeriPsych(TM), is a blood-based test that aids in the confirmation of diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia by evaluating a proprietary set of 51 biomarkers. RBM also offers innovative and proprietary ex vivo testing systems such as TruCulture(TM), the first fully-closed, reproducible whole blood culture system. More information about RBM is located at http://www.rulesbasedmedicine.com.