Blaze Bioscience Announces Two Poster Presentations at AACR-SNMMI Conference and Award of NCI SBIR Contract Advancing Tumor PaintTM Technology

- Versatility of Tumor Paint platform demonstrated using several near-infrared dyes

- Preclinical proof of principle in skin cancer models

- Tumor Paint technology being tested in dogs with cancer as part of SBIR contract

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blaze Bioscience, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to developing innovative products to improve the lives of cancer patients, announced today that two posters on aspects of the development of Tumor Paint^TM technology will be presented at the American Association of Cancer Research and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (AACR-SNMMI) joint conference. These poster presentations are additional recognition of the scientific work that started in the laboratory of Blaze Bioscience co-founder Dr. Jim Olson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and is being continued at Blaze.

“A Tumor PaintTM product provides near-infrared fluorescence detection of tumor tissue in mouse models of skin cancer”

The conference “State-of-the-Art Molecular Imaging in Cancer Biology and Therapy” is being held in San Diego, February 27 to March 2, 2013. Members of Dr. Olson’s lab are co-authors and presenters on the posters:

• “Evaluation of candidate near-infrared dyes for clinical translation of Tumor Paint^TM technology,” by Stacey Hansen, Mark Stroud, Julia Parrish-Novak, Claudia Jochheim, and Jim Olson; and
• “A Tumor Paint^TM product provides near-infrared fluorescence detection of tumor tissue in mouse models of skin cancer,” by Christopher G. Hubert, Stacey Hansen, Mark Stroud, Julia Parrish-Novak, and Jim Olson.

The potential utility of the Tumor Paint technology has been further recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which has awarded Blaze a $248,551 Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research contract to study Tumor Paint technology in canine patients with multiple tumor types¹. Dogs undergoing tumor resection as part of their treatment for cancer are candidates for this study. The study, which is fully funded by the NCI contract, is being conducted at Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the nation's top veterinary schools, and is open for enrollment.

“These scientific presentations and the NCI award are important validations of the Tumor Paint technology and demonstrations of Blaze’s continued commitment to expanding our knowledge related to the Tumor Paint platform,” said Julie Novak, Blaze Bioscience Vice President of Research and Project Management. “Researchers Mark Stroud and Stacey Hansen have moved seamlessly from their positions in Dr. Olson’s lab to continue their scientific contributions as part of the Blaze team. In addition, the NCI contract provides a rare opportunity to study a Tumor Paint product candidate in a real-world veterinary surgical setting.”

About Blaze Bioscience

Blaze Bioscience, Inc. is a Seattle-based, privately held biotechnology company dedicated to developing products that assist physicians in their quest to improve the lives of cancer patients. The company was founded in 2010 to develop and commercialize the Tumor Paint technology, which has potential applications in a broad array of solid tumor cancers. Tumor Paint technology is designed to provide real-time, high-resolution intraoperative visualization of cancer cells, enabling better detection and more complete and precise surgical removal of cancer. The first Tumor Paint product candidate, BLZ-100, is under development for cancer surgery in multiple solid tumor types. For additional information, please visit www.blazebioscience.com.

¹ This project has been funded in whole with Federal funds from National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN2612012000054C.