BEIJING, May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Burning Rock Biotech Limited (NASDAQ: BNR, the “Company” or “Burning Rock”) today announced the launch of the PRESCIENT (Pan-canceR Early-Stage deteCtion by lIquid Biopsy tEchNique projecT) study, the first blood-based, pan-cancer early-detection study in China using a multi-omics approach. The study is going to be led by Professor Jie He, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the China National Cancer Center, and Professor Jie Wang. Both are residing physicians at the National Cancer Center and the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

The study is expected to enroll 11,879 participants across 22 cancer types as well as healthy controls. These 22 cancers account for 88% of cancer incidence and 93% of cancer mortality in China^[1]. Compared with conventional cancer screening methods, liquid biopsy has the potential to increase detection efficiency and enable early diagnosis and treatment, thus improving patients’ survival and quality of life while reducing social burden of the disease.

The National Cancer Center will work with other leading clinical centers, including Beijing Cancer Hospital, Jilin Cancer Hospital, and Hubei General Hospital on the PRESCIENT study.

Professor Jie He said, “Early cancer detection and treatment brings significant social and economic benefits as they play a key role in ensuring people’s health and well-being and improving cancer patients’ survival and quality of life. With support from the National Cancer Center, PRESCIENT is the first blood-based cancer screening and early detection study using a multi-omics approach in China. It is designed to advance clinical application of pan-cancer early detection for the benefit of the wider population.”

Professor Jie Wang added, “China’s cancer incidence continues to rise and the annual incidence is large. There are also differences in etiology, pathology and epigenetics between Asian and Western populations. The clinical development of pan-cancer liquid biopsy in China is still at an early stage, lagging behind the cutting-edge progress on a global basis. It is crucial to advance the development of pan-cancer early detection and screening technologies and initiate clinical research in China. We hope that the PRESCIENT study will help us better understand the epigenetic characteristics of cancer patients in China to facilitate technology development and provide clinical evidence for much-needed early detection products. Burning Rock’s pan-cancer early detection technology has achieved strong initial results and I am very excited to work with Burning Rock and other clinical centers on this study. I wish the PRESCIENT study a great success.”

Mr. Yusheng Han, Founder and CEO of Burning Rock, said, “Pan-cancer early detection is one of Burning Rock’s strategic priorities. The launch of the PRESCIENT study after the PREDICT study demonstrates our unwavering commitment to early cancer detection. We are confident that our collaborative work with clinical experts and institutions will enable us to make further progress in this challenging field where technology barriers are high and investment of resources is significant and lengthy. We believe that over time our collective effort is going to make significant impact towards the improvement of cancer patients’ lifespan and quality of life.”

Burning Rock's latest product development progress was reported at mini-oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology Asia Meeting (ESMO Asia) in November 2020. The sensitivity and specificity of Burning Rock’s Elsa-seq early detection assay in six cancer types (lung cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and ovarian cancer) were 80.6% and 98.3%, respectively (validation set). This assay also achieved a high accuracy in the tissue of origin result^[2].

References
[1] J He et al., 2018 China cancer registry annual report, ISBN 978-7-117-28585-8.
[2] Qiang Gao et al., LBA3 Early detection and localization of multiple cancers using a blood-based methylation assay (Elsa-seq), ESMO Asia Virtual Congress 2020.

About Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Based in Beijing, the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences is the first cancer specialist hospital in China. It is also the National Clinical Center for Cancer Research, the National Center for Quality Control on Standardized Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, the National Clinical Center for Drug Research certified by National Medical Products Administration, and the operating unit of the National Cancer Center. The Cancer Hospital integrates medical care, education, research, and prevention to address all aspects of cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

About Burning Rock

Burning Rock Biotech Limited (NASDAQ: BNR), whose mission is to guard life via science, focuses on the application of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology in the field of precision oncology. Its business consists of i) NGS-based therapy selection testing for late-stage cancer patients, with the leading market share in China and over 273,000 tissue and liquid-based tests completed cumulatively, and ii) cancer early detection, which has moved beyond proof-of-concept R&D into the clinical validation stage.

For more information about Burning Rock, please visit: ir.brbiotech.com.

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Contact: IR@brbiotech.com