RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., June 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- BioCurex Inc. (OTCBB:BOCX) announces that it has started an evaluation of the company's RECAF(TM) based cancer detection kits in Japan. The study will be directed by Dr. Kazuhita Taketa, MD, Head of the Clinical Trial Center and Emeritus Professor, Okayama University. Dr. Taketa has worked for over 30 years on liver diseases and cancer markers and he has published numerous papers on the topic.
The project will involve major research and hospital centers in Japan, including the prestigious Shigei Medical Research Institute and the Sapporo Social Insurance General Hospital.
The study will focus on both the FDA cleared Histo-RECAF(TM) test for tissues and biopsies as well as BioCurex's new blood cancer test (Serum-RECAF(TM)). The aggregate market size for the two tests is estimated at over $2B per year.
Dr. Moro stated: "I am delighted by this collaboration. Dr. Taketa is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of cancer markers, a domain in which Japan has always been extremely active. It is very significant that Dr. Taketa approached us with this request to start this collaboration and we feel very proud that he and the two scientific groups he will coordinate have chosen our technology (RECAF) as the subject of their future work. This study, which is the equivalent of a clinical trial for a drug, will provide us with an independent assessment of our technology and will hopefully trigger an avalanche of publications and collaborations with other research laboratories and biotechnology companies."
Dr. Taketa wrote: "I believe that the assay of RECAF under various malignant conditions will make a breakthrough for a new approach to cancer diagnosis as well as prediction of malignancy in health checkups."
About BioCurex:
BioCurex, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing products based on patented/proprietary technology in the areas of cancer diagnosis, tumor imaging ad therapeutics. The technology identifies a cancer marker known as RECAF(TM), which is found on malignant cells from a variety of cancer types but is absent in most normal or benign cells. The Histo-RECAF(TM) kits provide proof of concept for the RECAF technology. Detailed information about BioCurex may be obtained from its website.
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