Veracyte, South San Francisco, Calif, and Decipher Biosciences, San Diego, Calif, a commercial-stage precision oncology company focused on urologic cancers, have entered into a definitive agreement through which Veracyte will acquire Decipher, further solidifying Veracyte’s global leadership in the genomic cancer diagnostics market while accelerating revenue growth.
“By combining Decipher Biosciences’ leadership in urologic cancers with our comprehensive genomic testing menu, Veracyte will be able to serve patients across the clinical care continuum in 7 of the 10 most prevalent cancers in the United States with highly differentiated and clinically impactful tests, significantly accelerating revenue growth and driving shareholder value,” says Bonnie Anderson, Veracyte’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Further, with our best-in-class nCounter diagnostics platform, we are well-positioned to deliver comprehensive genomic cancer testing to physicians and their patients worldwide. I am also delighted that Dr Tina Nova, PhD, Decipher’s president and CEO, and a veteran diagnostics industry leader, will join Veracyte as general manager, urologic cancers, and that Decipher’s talented employees will also join our team.”
Nova has been a member of Veracyte’s board since 2015, but was not involved in Veracyte’s deliberations regarding the transaction and is resigning from the Veracyte board in connection with the transaction.
Decipher has established a market-leading position for its comprehensive portfolio of tests in urologic cancers, which leverage whole transcriptome analysis and proprietary machine learning algorithms to improve patient decision-making across the clinical care continuum and accelerate adoption of new therapies. Collectively, Decipher’s genomic tests have been used by more than 3,200 urologists and radiation oncologists, including at all 28 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) centers in the United States.
The Decipher Prostate Biopsy and post-radical prostatectomy (RP) tests are included in NCCN guidelines and the Decipher Prostate RP test is the only genomic molecular diagnostic test recommended in NCCN guidelines for use in patients with localized prostate cancer. They are also broadly reimbursed by Medicare and private payers and included in practice-changing clinical trials, with growing adoption within the urology community. Further, the company’s Decipher Bladder test is expected to launch commercially in 2021 and its kidney cancer test is in development. Decipher GRID, a large, well-annotated urologic cancer database, is fueling the company’s biopharmaceutical partnerships and product innovation.
“Our goal is to enable better treatment decisions and patient outcomes in urologic cancers by providing valuable information about the underlying biology of a patient’s tumor,” says Nova. “Our team has made significant progress in advancing our mission and is thrilled to join Veracyte to benefit from their expertise and infrastructure, accelerating commercial expansion of our tests in the United States and globally.”
For more information, visit Veracyte.
