Roche Acquires Cancer Screening Startup CAPP Medical

Roche has acquired CAPP Medical, a genomics research startup focused on cancer screening and monitoring, the Switzerland-based company announced Monday.

CAPP Medical’s disruptive liquid noninvasive technology works by isolating and quantifying small amounts of circulating tumor DNA in the bloodstream. 

Through a blood draw, health professionals have the potential to monitor tumor response and resistance to cancer therapy.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company’s next-generation sequencing assays could significantly speed up cancer diagnosis and prove to be more cost effective than the current standard of care, says Roland Diggelmann, COO Roche Diagnostics.

CAPP Medical’s technology has been designated for Research Use Only by the FDA. The company was founded by Stanford University oncologists and industry leaders in 2013. — Jason Scott