NetScientific PLC Vortex Biosciences' CSO Wins SLAS Innovation Award

TIDMNSCI

NetScientific PLC

15 February 2017

NetScientific plc

("NetScientific" or the "Company")

Vortex Biosciences' Chief Scientific Officer, Elodie Sollier Awarded 2017 SLAS Innovation Award

London, UK - 15 February 2017 - NetScientific plc ("NetScientific", AIM:NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation Group, announces that the Chief Scientific Officer of its portfolio company, Vortex Biosciences, Elodie Sollier-Christen, has been awarded a 2017 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) Innovation Award.

Elodie's presentation to the judges: "Vortex Technology for fast and label-free isolation of circulating tumour cells from blood samples", where she discussed a breakthrough by Vortex in the isolation of circulating tumour cells from blood samples, is now available to view on the SLAS website (www.slas.org).

The annual SLAS Innovation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in innovative life sciences discovery and technology. All those selected to deliver podium presentations at the annual SLAS conference are eligible to be considered for this award, which comes with a $10,000 prize.

Commenting on the news, François R. Martelet, Chief Executive Officer of NetScientific, said: "We wish to extend our warm congratulations to Elodie on her receipt of this prestigious award. We view this prize as a recognition of her extraordinary work on the cutting edge technology utilised by Vortex on the design of the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System. We believe that this technology has great potential to significantly impact laboratory automation and screening and we are delighted to see it receive due recognition."

The full text of the announcement is below:

CSO of Vortex Biosciences Dr. Elodie Sollier-Christen Awarded With 2017 SLAS Innovation Award

Dr. Elodie Sollier-Christen's Presentation on the Development of the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System Recognized for Innovation and Impact to Research

MENLO PARK, CA, 14 February 2017 - Vortex Biosciences, provider of circulating tumor cell (CTC) capture systems, congratulates Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Dr. Elodie Sollier-Christen for receiving the Innovation Award at SLAS 2017, the annual conference and exhibition of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS), held Feb. 4-8 in Washington D.C. Her presentation, now available for viewing on the SLAS website is titled "Vortex Technology for fast and label-free isolation of circulating tumor cells from blood samples" and described the development of the new VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System.

The annual SLAS Innovation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in innovative life sciences discovery and technology. After receiving nominations from 83 SLAS 2017 podium presenters, the SLAS Innovation Award panel of judges invited 21 presenters to submit extended abstracts for further consideration. Of these 21 extended abstracts, 9 were identified as finalists and were invited to deliver podium presentations for evaluation at the SLAS 2017 conference. Finalists were selected after the judges determined that these scientists offered especially insightful studies to develop new technology for the laboratory; a new application of technology to laboratory automation or screening; or a use of technology to solve a unique problem. The complete judging criteria can be seen on the Innovation Award page of the SLAS 2017 website.

"I am humbled by the honor a great organization like SLAS has given me," said Elodie Sollier-Christen, Chief Scientific Officer of Vortex Biosciences. "I am so proud to be part of the Vortex team, translating innovative laboratory science into a great product that will have a real impact on our understanding of cancer biology and ultimately improve outcomes for cancer patients."

"The VTX-1 product is truly the next step in CTC isolation technologies, and will have a huge impact on both cancer research and diagnostics," said Gene Walther, Chief Executive Officer of Vortex Biosciences. "We are proud to see great scientists like Dr. Sollier-Christen be recognized for the cutting edge work she and her team are doing."

CTCs are relatively scarce, with concentrations as low as 1-10 CTCs/mL of whole blood, against a background of millions of white blood cells and billions of red blood cells. Based on innovations in Dr. Dino Di Carlo's lab at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the fully automated, easy to use VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System from Vortex represents the next step in CTC isolation. Inside the VTX-1 chip, unlabeled CTCs in whole blood are selectively trapped in microscale vortices while smaller red and white blood cells pass through. The CTCs are then released and collected into a variety of containers for downstream analysis. With a cancer cell recovery of 65-75%, best in class CTC purity, CTCs collected unbiased by their molecular characteristics, unaltered by the process, and ready for downstream analysis, the VTX-1 offers the best CTC samples available today. Dr. Sollier-Christen's winning presentation went through the development process from an early, exciting technology to a refined commercial product.

About Vortex Biosciences

Vortex Biosciences is a cancer research and diagnostics company that integrates cancer biology, microfluidic engineering and informatics to develop tools for isolating and characterizing circulating tumor cells. The Vortex VTX-1 instrument harvests intact circulating tumor cells from whole blood samples for use in downstream research and clinical applications such as patient stratification in clinical trials, monitoring disease progression and drug treatment effectiveness. With a mission to enable noninvasive diagnosis of cancer and real-time monitoring throughout a patient's treatment, Vortex is at the forefront of accelerating cancer research and improving patient outcomes. Vortex is a core subsidiary of NetScientific plc, a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercializing technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, visit www.vortexbiosciences.com.

For more information, please contact:

 
  NetScientific                            Tel: [phone] 
   François R. Martelet, 
   M.D., CEO 
   Ian Postlethwaite, 
   CFO 
  Consilium Strategic 
   Communications                          Tel: [phone] 
   Mary-Jane Elliott /            [e-mail] 
   Chris Gardner / 
   Jessica Hodgson / Chris 
   Welsh / 
   Laura Thornton 
 

About NetScientific Plc

NetScientific is a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases.

For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net

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February 15, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)