Guardant Health and Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology Announce Partnership to Establish First Guardant-Based Liquid Biopsy Testing Service in Europe

BARCELONA, Spain & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company, and Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), one of Europe’s leading cancer research organizations, have agreed to enter into a partnership to establish in-house liquid biopsy testing services, using Guardant Health’s industry-leading proprietary digital sequencing platform, at VHIO’s facility in Barcelona, Spain.

The service is expected to become operational in 2021 and will be available for clinical research and clinical care — starting with private patients, followed by expansion into the public healthcare system over time.

“We are pleased to announce this partnership with VHIO which will bring liquid biopsy comprehensive genomic testing to more cancer patients in Spain and beyond,” said Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health CEO. “Our vision is that all cancer patients globally have access to state-of-the-art diagnostics to enable improved outcomes through earlier, faster, and more accurate diagnosis, therapy selection, and monitoring, and this partnership is an important step toward realizing that vision.”

“The opening of this service is expected to significantly increase the number of cancer patients identified as eligible for clinical trials based on available precision medicines, and help accelerate research and development of the next wave of cancer therapeutics,” said Josep Tabernero, Director of VHIO and Head of the Medical Oncology Department of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. “We look forward to working together with Guardant Health to bring clinical-grade liquid biopsy genomic testing services to patients at pace and scale.”

Guardant Health’s liquid biopsy tests have been extensively used in clinical trials with over 200 peer-reviewed publications demonstrating its benefits to patients. Guardant360^® tests are used by oncologists around the world to guide treatment decisions across solid tumor cancers, and by pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers in clinical trials to accelerate precision medicine drug development. Guardant Health has achieved CE mark approval as well as U.S. FDA approval for its Guardant360 CDx assay for tumor mutation profiling, also known as comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP), in patients with any solid malignant neoplasm (cancerous tumor), and as a companion diagnostic to identify non-small cell lung cancer patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) alterations who may benefit from treatment with Tagrisso^® (osimertinib).

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on helping conquer cancer globally through use of its proprietary blood tests, vast data sets, and advanced analytics. The Guardant Health Oncology Platform leverages capabilities to drive commercial adoption, improve patient clinical outcomes, and lower healthcare costs across all stages of the cancer care continuum. Guardant Health has launched liquid biopsy-based Guardant360^®, Guardant360 CDx and GuardantOMNI^® tests for advanced stage cancer patients. These tests fuel development of its LUNAR program, which aims to address the needs of early-stage cancer patients with neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment selection, cancer survivors with surveillance, asymptomatic individuals eligible for cancer screening and individuals at a higher risk for developing cancer with early detection.

About Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology

Established in 2006, the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) is a leading comprehensive cancer center of excellence where its scientists and research physicians adopt a purely translational research model, working together as multidisciplinary teams to both accelerate and advance personalized and targeted therapies against cancer. Undertaking one of Spain’s most dynamic cancer research programs, VHIO is dedicated to delivering on the promise of precision medicine in oncology – turning cancer discovery into more effective treatments and better practice for the care of our patients. VHIO is one of the seven leading European cancer centers that have joined forces to create Cancer Core Europe, a Cancer Association carrying out innovative research propelling cancer medicine into a new era through translational research.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the expected timeline for, and availability of, VHIO’s liquid biopsy testing service, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause Guardant Health’s actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Guardant Health’s financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation” and elsewhere in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2020, June 30, 2020, and September 30, 2020, respectively, and in its other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Guardant Health as of the date hereof, and Guardant Health disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guardant Health’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Source: Guardant Health, Inc.

Guardant Health Contacts

Investor Contact:
Carrie Mendivil
investors@guardanthealth.com

Media Contact:
Anna Czene
press@guardanthealth.com

Courtney Carroll
courtney.carroll@uncappedcommunications.com

Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology Contacts

Media Contact:
Bianca Pont
bpont@vhio.net