MUKILTEO, Wash., June 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CombiMatrix Corporation (Nasdaq:CBMX) announced today that its laboratory services subsidiary, CombiMatrix Diagnostics, has received the final licensure documentation and approvals from Medicare in order to begin billing for its suite of array-based diagnostics tests.
"We have publicly disclosed that our Company continues to make significant progress on the reimbursement front," stated Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of CombiMatrix Corp. "As Medicare is a large payer of services for individuals over 65 and the bulk of cancer patients are over 65, this step is a major accomplishment for the Company's commercialization efforts. While this development will not significantly affect our developmental tests, we believe that certain barriers to the utilization of our cancer tests have now been eliminated. As we continue our restructuring process, we are pleased to report on the progress of our parallel reimbursement activities which will drive the acceleration of our diagnostics commercialization efforts," concluded Dr. Kumar.
Dr. Mansoor Mohammed, President and CEO of CombiMatrix Diagnostics added, "In order to effectively build successful sales distribution partnerships, comprehensive reimbursement coverage is necessary. In particular, oncology-related sales are often predicated by Medicare coverage determinations and a company's ability to bill for related services. This recent advancement provides us with a reimbursement environment that allows us to execute our oncology business strategy," concluded Dr. Mohammed.
ABOUT COMBIMATRIX DIAGNOSTICS ONCOLOGY TESTS
CombiMatrix Diagnostics offers its newly branded DNAarray™ portfolio of cancer-focused tests to oncologists, hospital-based pathologists and other commercial reference laboratories, through its Irvine, California, CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory. HemeScan™, a high-resolution, genome-wide analysis of hematologic malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia, has now been successfully run and resulted in over 1,000 patients. Her2 Pro™ provides an additional tool in the prognosis of breast cancer, and helps determine a patients' response to specific therapies when other traditional testing methodologies may prove inadequate. The DNAarray™ technology also provides an overall prognostic portrait of a patient's tumor by measuring levels of genome-wide instability and molecular sub-type associations, and can delineate potential therapeutic targets in various malignancies such as breast, colon and lung cancers.
ABOUT MEDICARE
Medicare is a social insurance program that provides health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Additional information about CombiMatrix Corporation is available at www.combimatrix.com or by calling 1-800-985-CBMX (2269). Additional information about CombiMatrix Diagnostics is available at www.cmdiagnostics.com or by calling 1-800-710-0624.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties, including the recent economic slowdown affecting technology companies, our ability to successfully develop products, rapid technological change in our markets, changes in demand for our future products, legislative, regulatory and competitive developments and general economic conditions. Our periodic and other SEC filings discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.