Illumina and Kartos Therapeutics Announce New Oncology Partnership to Develop an NGS-Based TP53 Companion Diagnostic

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) and Kartos Therapeutics, Inc. are pleased to announce a new partnership to co-develop a TP53 companion diagnostic (CDx) based on the content of Illumina’s comprehensive genomic profiling assay, TruSight™ Oncology 500 (TSO 500). This companion diagnostic for multiple hematologic indications will be the first to use TSO 500 with peripheral whole blood as a diagnostic sample type.

“With this partnership, Illumina will expand the TruSight Oncology offerings into hematologic malignancies,” said Phil Febbo, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Illumina. “By leveraging our technology and harnessing the expertise at Kartos, we continue to advance Illumina’s commitment to develop standardized, globally distributable tools for precision oncology.”

The initial focus of the collaboration will be the co-development of multiple CDx claims in blood cancers for Kartos’ KRT-232, a potent and selective oral MDM2 inhibitor that activates p53 to drive tumor cell death in TP53 wild-type cancers.

“Kartos is dedicated to developing novel, targeted therapeutics that meaningfully improve the lives of patients with cancer,” said Jesse McGreivy, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer at Kartos. “This partnership will allow us to capitalize on TSO 500 as we explore the expanded use of KRT-232, which offers a unique mechanism to restore the function of p53, one of the most critical tumor suppressor proteins, resulting in apoptosis of malignant cells across a variety of hematologic and solid tumor types.”

The collaboration with Kartos builds on a solid history and varied portfolio of Illumina’s oncology partnerships with industry leaders, with the united goal of advancing cancer diagnostics and precision medicine.

About TruSight Oncology 500

TSO 500 is a Research Use Only comprehensive pan-cancer assay designed to identify 523 known and emerging tumor biomarkers. TSO 500 utilizes both DNA and RNA from tumor samples to identify key variants critical for cancer development and progression, such as small DNA variants, fusions, and splice variants. Based on the content of TSO 500, Illumina will be adding an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test to the TruSight Oncology product family. This comprehensive tumor profiling assay will have similar chemistry and analytics to TSO 500.

To learn more about TSO 500, click here.

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Kartos Therapeutics

Kartos Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with a potential best-in-class MDM2 inhibitor (KRT-232) in clinical development, across a variety of TP53 wild-type hematological malignancies and solid tumors. To learn more, visit www.kartosthera.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Use of forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the expectation for lower costs related to the storing and managing of genomic data costs. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements are: (i) challenges inherent in developing and launching new products and services; (ii) our ability to deploy new products, services, and applications, and to expand the markets for our technology platforms; and (iii) the acceptance by customers of our newly launched products, which may or may not meet our and their expectations once deployed, together with other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the date and time of which are released beforehand. We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements, to review or confirm analysts’ expectations, or to provide interim reports or updates on the progress of the current quarter.

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