SAN ANTONIO, March 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- bioAffinity Technologies, a privately held biotech company, today announced the formation of a Scientific and Medical Advisory (SMA) Board to provide independent expert advice and counsel on the Company’s research and development of innovative cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, including CyPath® Lung.
M. Patricia Rivera, MD, professor of pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, joins the bioAffinity SMA Board as chairperson. Dr. Rivera is director of the UNC Lung Cancer Screening Clinic, which works with patients at high risk of developing lung cancer. Dr. Rivera initially joined UNC in 1995 to develop a multidisciplinary thoracic oncology program. Her clinical focus is on the screening, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
“We are proud to welcome Dr. Rivera to our Advisory Board,” bioAffinity President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Zannes said. “Her groundbreaking work in lung cancer screening and early diagnosis of the disease directly complements bioAffinity Technologies’ mission to provide innovative products for the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer when patients have the best prognosis for survival.”
bioAffinity is currently conducting a test validation trial for CyPath® Lung, a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) for the diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer. The porphyrin-based CyPath® assay preferentially binds to cancer cells in bodily fluids, such as sputum or urine, and causes them to fluoresce in contrast to non-cancer cells.
“We continue to make great advances in the field of lung cancer,” Dr. Rivera said. “But the majority of lung cancers are still diagnosed at an advanced stage when the five-year survival rate is extremely low. The key is better screening for at-risk patients and early diagnosis when treatment options offer the best outcome. bioAffinity is using its proprietary technology to develop tools to do both.”
Zannes said that Dr. Rivera’s standing among her peers will give bioAffinity the opportunity to recruit top lung cancer researchers and clinicians to its SMA Board. “We look forward to collaborating with the best of the best to improve our products for the benefit of patients around the world.”
About bioAffinity Technologies, Inc.
bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (www.bioaffinitytech.com) is a privately held development-stage company addressing the significant unmet need for non-invasive, early-stage cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Company develops proprietary in-vitro diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics using breakthrough technology that preferentially targets cancer cells. Research and optimization of its platform technology is conducted in bioAffinity Technologies’ laboratories at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). The Company’s platform technology will be developed to diagnose, monitor and treat many cancers.
