DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel oncology tests using liquid biopsy today announced that the company, under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, will collaborate on the evaluation and development of DiaCarta's proprietary xeno-nucleic acid (XNA) molecular clamping technology. NCI and DiaCarta will collaborate on the following projects: (1) the investigation of low frequency mutation events in cancers and rare diseases using DiaCarta's proprietary xeno-nucleic acid (XNA) molecular clamping technology, and (2) the development of XNA probes for in situ cancer cell detection. The duration of the CRADA will be 2 years from the effective start date.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel oncology tests using liquid biopsy announced today that the company has developed a novel test to detect the newest COVID-19 Omicron variant, based on its proprietary XNA technology.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel virology and oncology tests, mourns the passing of Michael “Mike” J. Powell, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of DiaCarta.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel oncology tests using liquid biopsy today announced that its new QuantiVirus™ SARS-CoV-2 Variant Detection Test received the CE/IVD marking and therefore, can now be commercialized within the EU and rest of the world. This new test screens for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and simultaneously identifies and differentiates all the new mutating COVID 19 variants including the Alpha (UK), Beta (S. Africa), Gamma (Brazil), Delta (India), Delta Plus (India), Epsilon (California) and the Kappa (India) variants.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel oncology tests using liquid biopsy, today announced the appointment of Hongjun “Harry” Yang, Ph.D., former Executive Personalized Healthcare Strategy Leader at AstraZeneca, as Senior Vice President of Companion Diagnostics (CDx) at DiaCarta.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company and leading developer of novel oncology tests using liquid biopsy today announced the publication of a study entitled "A Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Variant Detection by Molecular-Clamping Based RT-qPCR" in MedRxiV that demonstrates the enhanced sensitivity and specificity using its proprietary XNA based Molecular Clamping Technology that uses innovative synthetic Xenonucleic acid molecular oligomers (XNA) that hybridize with target wild-type DNA sequences, acting as molecular clamps, to enable the accurate amplification of mutant sequences only, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR).

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company with proprietary technologies for the development of novel liquid biopsy oncology tests, announced today the publication of a study in Nature Scientific Reports that demonstrates that DiaCarta's cfDNA biomarker algorithm could function as a prognostic biomarker and efficacy predictor for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), VEGF/VEGF receptor inhibitors (VEGFIs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the treatment of advanced cancers including non‑small‑cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to evaluate the utility of plasma cell‑free DNA (cfDNA) as a prognostic biomarker and efficacy predictor of chemotherapy (CT) with or without these precision therapies in NSCLC patients. Peripheral cfDNA levels in 154 NSCLC patients were quantified before and after the first target cycle of chemotherapy. The correlations of cfDNA with tumor burden, clinical characteristics, progression‑free survival (PFS)/disease‑free survival (DFS), objective response ratio (ORR), and therapy regimens were analyzed respectively. Baseline cfDNA, but not post‑chemotherapeutic cfDNA, positively correlates with tumor burden. Notably, cfDNA kinetics (cfDNA Ratio, the ratio of post‑chemotherapeutic cfDNA to baseline cfDNA) well distinguished responsive individuals (CR/PR) from the non‑responsive (PD/SD). Additionally, cfDNA Ratio was found negatively correlated with PFS in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), but not lung squamous‑cell carcinoma (LUSC) which may be due to a limited number of LUSC patients in this cohort. LUAD patients with low cfDNA Ratio have prolonged PFS and improved ORR, compared to those with high cfDNA Ratio. When stratified by therapy regimen, the predictive value of cfDNA Ratio is significant in patients with chemotherapy plus VEGFIs, while more patients need be included to validate the value of cfDNA Ratio in other regimens. Thus, the kinetics of plasma cfDNA during chemotherapy may function as a prognostic biomarker and efficacy predictor for NSCLC patients.

Highlights •A new immunoassay was developed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG detection. •The assay is based on Luminex platform and has specificity <98 %. •The assay shows sensitivity > 97.5 % for patients beyond 2 weeks after symptom onset. •Serum heat-activation is not suitable for this beads-based fluorescence immunoassay.

According to the recent FDA SARS-CoV-2 Reference Panel Comparative Data released on September 15, among all the FDA EUA tests with returned results, DiaCarta’s QuantiVirusTM SARS-CoV-2 Test and QuantiVirus™ SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Test both rank within the top 3 for product sensitivity.

DiaCarta’s QuantiVirus™ SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Test ranks among the top 10 kits in terms of low limit of detection (LoD). DiaCarta is the top 6 company, after Perkin Elmer, Roche, Quest, RTA and BD Biosciences.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostics company with a unique, patented XNA technology platform for the development of novel liquid biopsy tests, announced today that its QuantiVirus™ SARS-CoV-2 test has been approved for distribution in Mexico.

DiaCarta Inc, a precision molecular diagnostic company in CA, announced Thursday the US FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization for DiaCarta’s proprietary QuantiVirus™ PCR diagnostic (Dx) test specifically detecting three different genes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. DiaCarta recently expanded manufacturing capacity to 500,000 tests per week and is planning to expand to even larger (4x) scale manufacturing to meet the increasing demand for PCR tests to monitor COVID-19.

DiaCarta Inc., a precision molecular diagnostic company, announced today that it has filed for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the US FDA for its QuantiVirus™ SARS-CoV-2 test and has validated the COVID-19 diagnostic test in its own CLIA certified lab in Richmond, CA to provide testing services for healthcare providers and patients. DiaCarta recently received Conformitè Europëenne (CE) Mark for its product.