ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncoCyte Corporation (NYSE AMERICAN:OCX), a developer of novel, non-invasive tests for the early detection of cancer, today announced that Michael G. Vicari has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President of Sales. Mr. Vicari will report directly to William Annett, President and Chief Executive Officer. He will be responsible for the development and successful implementation of the Company’s domestic and international sales strategies, with an initial focus on the expected fourth quarter U.S. launch of DetermaVu™, the Company’s liquid biopsy lung cancer diagnostic.

“Our commitment to building out and executing our sales strategy reflects our plan to make DetermaVu™ the first test of its kind to reach the medical market, and we expect the U.S. commercial launch in the fourth quarter of this year,” said Mr. Annett. “Michael’s experience building and leading sales organizations at major diagnostic companies, and proven success in driving significant revenues, will be invaluable as we launch DetermaVu™ and drive adoption by physicians.”

Mr. Vicari brings 35 years of successful sales and marketing leadership within the healthcare industry, including the launch of several important diagnostic products. Before joining OncoCyte, he was with Eurofins Scientific as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Clinical Diagnostics business where he established two separate sales and marketing organizations for EGL (rare genetic testing) & NTD (prenatal testing) while leading all commercial functions.

Prior to Eurofins, he was Vice President of Sales for Sequenom, Inc., leading sales and strategy for nearly five years.  While at Sequenom, Mr. Vicari led the successful launch of their revolutionary women’s health test, NIPT MaterniT21, and launching of the Universal Carrier Screen, NIPT VisibiliT, and drove overall Sequenom sales from $0 to over $150 million per year. Prior to Sequenom, Mr. Vicari was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Oncology/HIV at Monogram Biosciences before it was acquired by LabCorp. In this role, he led sales, marketing and clinical training and also managed the launch of HerMark for breast cancer. Mr. Vicari has served in senior commercial leadership roles at Genentech, Corixa Oncology, and MedImmune.

“OncoCyte is approaching an exciting inflection point as it prepares for the anticipated launch of DetermaVu™, and I’m thrilled that I will be spearheading the launch and commercial rollout of this important product,” commented Mr. Vicari. “DetermaVu™ has the potential to change the paradigm in lung cancer diagnostics, thereby saving lives and lowering treatment costs for millions of patients by helping to identify lung cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage, and reducing the need for potentially dangerous and expensive invasive biopsies. I look forward to working tirelessly with the entire team to make DetermaVu™ a commercial success.”

About OncoCyte Corporation

OncoCyte is focused on the development and commercialization of novel, non-invasive blood and urine (“liquid biopsy”) diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancer to improve health outcomes through earlier diagnoses, to reduce the cost of care through the avoidance of more costly diagnostic procedures, including invasive biopsy and cystoscopic procedures, and to improve the quality of life for cancer patients. While current biopsy tests use invasive surgical procedures to provide tissue samples in order to determine if a tumor is benign or malignant, OncoCyte is developing a next generation of diagnostic tests that will be based on liquid biopsies using blood or urine samples. OncoCyte’s pipeline products are intended to be confirmatory diagnostics for detecting lung, breast and bladder cancer. OncoCyte’s diagnostic tests are being developed using proprietary sets of genetic and protein markers that differentially express in specific types of cancer.

DetermaVu™ is a trademark of OncoCyte Corporation

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates” and similar expressions) are forward-looking statements. These statements include those pertaining to the implementation and results of research, development, clinical trials and studies, commercialization plans, future financial and/or operating results, and future opportunities for OncoCyte, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential diagnostic tests or products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, the need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights, and the need to obtain third party reimbursement for patients’ use of any diagnostic tests we commercialize. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of OncoCyte, particularly those mentioned in the “Risk Factors” and other cautionary statements found in OncoCyte’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. OncoCyte disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.