SAN JOSE — AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co., Ltd. (“AnPac Bio,” the “Company” or “we”) (NASDAQ: ANPC), a biotechnology company with operations in China and the United States focused on early cancer screening and detection, announced today the allowance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 6, 2020 of a new US patent for a novel medical device for disease detection utilizing integrated circuit technology. By using the said medical device, improved detection performance can be obtained.
“As a biotechnology company capable of multi-cancer screening and detection, AnPac Bio continues to focus on technical innovations and endeavors to increase its clinical sample size and data base in the field of cancer screening and detection,” said Dr. Chris Yu, CEO and Chairman of AnPac Bio. “We are fully committed to patent and intellectual property protection and technical validations, and are working on the commercialization of our cancer screening and detection tests in the U.S.”
Dr. Chris Yu continued, “The newly granted patent marks another milestone for AnPac Bio’s technological development and is expected to contribute to the Company’s expansion in the U.S. market. The new US patents will allow AnPac Bio to further solidify our capabilities in multi-cancer screening and detection, enhance our platform of disease detection that includes novel design and fabrication of medical devices multiple testing parameters and improved detection methods, including higher sensitivity and specificity and ability to detect pre-cancer diseases and early stages of cancer of many types, and enable us to better serve our clients in the U.S. in the future.”
The Company has been granted two new patents in the U.S. recently (including the one announced in this press release, which brings the Company’s total U.S. granted patent number to eighteen as of the date of this press release. As we previously announced on March 24, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the Company a patent claiming an integrated and decomposable micro apparatus that can be used for site-specific delivery of a drug, a medical kit, a micro disease detection system, or even an auto-navigation system for in vivo applications.
In recent years, AnPac Bio has been expanding its capabilities and facilities, including establishing laboratories, in the U.S. These laboratories are expected to add to AnPac Bio’s ability to establish closer business ties with potential clients after the commercialization of its cancer screening and detection tests in the U.S. in the future. The Company is in the process of establishing its second laboratory in the U.S., which is located in Philadelphia, PA, and will serve as the Company’s new headquarters when it is ready for use expected by the end of this year. Together with the Company’s other laboratory in San Jose, CA, AnPac Bio could efficiently cover businesses in the U.S. with one laboratory in the west coast and the other in the east coast in the future.
About AnPac Bio
AnPac Bio is a biotechnology company focused on early cancer screening and detection, with 121 issued patents as of December 31, 2019. With two certified clinical laboratories in China and one CLIA and CAP accredited clinical laboratory in the United States, AnPac Bio performs a suite of cancer screening and detection tests, including CDA (Cancer Differentiation Analysis), bio-chemical, immunological, and genomics tests. In a recent market research report by Frost & Sullivan, AnPac Bio ranked second worldwide among companies offering next-generation early cancer screening and detection technologies in terms of the number of clinical samples for cancer screening and detection, based on approximately 35,000 clinical samples as at June 30, 2019. AnPac Bio’s CDA technology has been shown in retrospective validation studies to be able to detect the risk of over 20 different cancer types with high sensitivity and specificity.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are relating to the Company’s future financial and operating performance. The Company has attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminologies including “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “intends,” “potential,” “target,” “aim,” “predict,” “outlook,” “seek,” “goal” “objective,” “assume,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “positioned,” “forecast,” “likely,” “may,” “could,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “approximately” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, assumptions and uncertainties involving judgments about, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. These statements also involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the implementation of our business model and growth strategies; trends and competition in the cancer screening and detection market; our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our cancer screening and detection tests and our ability to expand our customer base; our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protections for our CDA technology and our continued research and development to keep pace with technology developments; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals from the NMPA, the FDA and the relevant U.S. states and have our laboratories certified or accredited by authorities including the CLIA; our future business development, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to obtain financing cost-effectively; potential changes of government regulations; general economic and business conditions in China and elsewhere; our ability to hire and maintain key personnel; our relationship with our major business partners and customers; and the duration of the coronavirus outbreaks and their potential adverse impact on the economic conditions and financial markets and our business and financial performance, such as resulting from reduced commercial activities due to quarantines and travel restrictions instituted by China, the U.S. and many other countries around the world to contain the spread of the virus. Additionally, all forward-looking statements are subject to the “Risk Factors” detailed from time to time in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Because of these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. In addition, these statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except as may be required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.