RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., Aug. 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- BioCurex Inc. (OTCBB:BOCX) announced a collaboration with Aperio Technologies, Inc. (Vista, California) to automate the detection of the universal cancer marker Histo-RECAF(tm) using Aperio's ultrafast ScanScope(tm) slide scanner.
The ScanScope(tm) is a microscope slide scanner that digitizes an entire slide at diagnostic resolution in minutes. Once a slide has been scanned, the resulting digital images ("virtual slides") can be viewed anywhere in the world. Virtual slides can also be analyzed using specialized computer programs that can quickly find rare cells, including cancer cells stained by BioCurex's Histo-RECAF(tm) kit.
"The quality of virtual slides created by the ScanScope(tm) is equal to what can be observed through a microscope", said Dr. Paul D Slowey, CEO at BioCurex. "It is also clear that pathology is experiencing a paradigm shift that includes digitization, automation and quantitation. We're pleased to be working with Aperio on automating the scanning and remote viewing -- and in the future, the quantification -- of our Histo-RECAF(tm) marker for cancer." Interested parties are encouraged to view specific examples of slides stained with RECAF(tm) in the BioCurex directory at http://www.scanscope.com.
According to Dirk Soenksen, CEO of Aperio Technologies, "The ability of Histo-RECAF(tm) to distinguish between cancer cells and normal cells has great potential for advancing healthcare, and represents an exciting application for our automated scanning platform."
BioCurex Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing products based on patented/proprietary technology in the areas of cancer diagnosis, tumor imaging and therapeutics. The technology identifies a cancer marker known as RECAF(tm), which is found on malignant cells from a variety of cancer types but is absent in most normal or benign cells.
Aperio Technologies, based in Vista, CA, develops software and instrumentation for tissue analysis and discovery. Aperio is dedicated to developing tools for viewing, annotating, storing and analyzing scanned microscope slides, and to establishing its ScanScope as the industry-standard slide-scanning platform. For additional information visit our web site at http://www.aperio.com/.
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Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning given to that term in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.