Clarient and Definiens Collaborate To Develop Image Analysis Technology For Cancer Diagnostics

MUNICH, Germany & ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLRT) and Definiens, Inc. jointly announced today that they established a strategic partnership to employ a series of image analysis platforms for Clarient's in-house research and development, and Web-based customer portal PATHSiTESM. Under a five year collaborative agreement, Clarient and Definiens plan to develop and commercialize tools that will help to evaluate quantitative biomarkers that predict cancer treatment response to targeted therapies.

Ken Bloom, MD, Clarient's Chief Medical Officer, said, "The availability of image analysis tool sets is essential as we enter the age of personalized medicine. Many of the assays in development assess several intracellular processes simultaneously, and it is critical that we develop algorithms that localize and quantify key markers. We now have the ability to provide a number of image analysis tools across a wide range of technologies to help facilitate biomarker assessment for our biopharma clients in the clinical marketplace." Bloom adds, "The Definiens agreement provides us with access to a team of scientists that have extensive experience in software development and biomarker analysis for applications in the life sciences."

"Our advanced image analysis platform is routinely used and implemented within a large base of biopharmaceutical customers," said Gregg Westerbeck, Vice President and General Manager Americas at Definiens. "The partnership with Clarient will allow us to access to the clinical marketplace, allowing both companies to commercialize translational medicine applications. Clarient's extensive menu of biomarkers as well as its rapidly growing customer base will extend the reach of our applications."

Clarient processes large numbers of tissue samples for biomarkers from customers worldwide for both clinical decision-making and biopharmaceutical development. These tissue samples are then converted into high-resolution digital images that are managed and analyzed over Clarient's PATHSiTE portal. The partnership with Definiens involves seamlessly integrating a wide range of image analysis tools into Clarient's existing infrastructure. It is designed to allow Clarient to increase operational throughput with rapid, automated analysis of tissue sample images of all sizes, supporting cancer tissue biomarker profiling and facilitating more streamlined diagnoses.

Clarient CEO Ron Andrews added that he expects that the technology will help drive the growth of the Company's biomarker business. "Clarient has built a solid reputation by being on the cutting edge of the virtual microscopy and image analysis utility in the anatomic pathology market. The relationship with Definiens adds significant technological muscle to our industry leading programs. Enhancing our ability to deliver advanced quantitative analysis to tissue based diagnostics and to push these images in real time over the internet will further differentiate Clarient and strengthen the competitive positioning of our new Clarient Insight Dx™ program," Andrews noted.

The Definiens' platform utilizes proprietary image analysis algorithms to rapidly analyze multi-dimensional image data, regardless of file type, complexity and size. The software can be used to automatically identify and quantify regions of interest within breast, prostate and colon cancer tissue samples including nuclei and membranes protein quantification. The consistency and accuracy of Definiens' technology can be used to aid a pathologist, allowing for more precise biomarker analysis.

About Definiens
Definiens is the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence company for analyzing and interpreting images on every scale, from microscopic cell structures to satellite images. The Definiens Cognition Network Technology®, developed by Nobel laureate Prof. Gerd Binnig and his team, is an advanced and robust context-based technology designed to fulfill the image analysis requirements of the Medical, Life Science, and Earth Science markets. The technology is modeled on the powerful human cognitive perception processes to extract intelligence from images. Definiens provides organizations with faster image analysis results, allowing deeper insights enabling better business decisions. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has offices in the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Definiens in Life Sciences
By automating image analysis on an enterprise level, Definiens supports Life Science organizations to analyze and interpret vast numbers of images accurately and consistently. Definiens improves the measurement of cell assays, the examination of tissue samples and the interpretation of non-invasive imaging, enabling high-content screening, digital pathology and translational medicine.

Definiens, Definiens Cellenger, Definiens Cognition Network Technology, Definiens eCognition, Enterprise Image Intelligence and Understanding Images are trademarks or registered trademarks of Definiens.

About Clarient

About Safeguard
Founded in 1953 and based in Wayne, PA, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE) provides growth capital for entrepreneurial and innovative technology and life sciences companies. Safeguard targets technology companies in Software as a Service (SaaS), Technology-Enabled Services and Internet-based Businesses, and life sciences companies in Molecular and Point-of-Care Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Specialty Pharmaceuticals with capital requirements between $5 million and $50 million. Safeguard participates in expansion financings, corporate spin-outs, management buyouts, recapitalizations, industry consolidations, and early-stage financings. www.safeguard.com

The statements herein regarding Clarient, Inc. contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainty. Future events and the Company's actual results could differ materially from the results reflected in these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: the ability of Definiens and Clarient to obtain and maintain necessary regulatory approvals, Clarient's ability to continue to develop and expand its diagnostic services business, Clarient's ability to expand and maintain a successful sales and marketing organization, Clarient's ability to maintain compliance with financial and other covenants under its credit facilities, the continuation of favorable third party payer reimbursement for laboratory tests, unanticipated expenses or liabilities or other adverse events affecting cash flow, uncertainty of success in identifying and developing new diagnostic tests or novel markers, Clarient's ability to compete with other technologies and with emerging competitors in novel cancer diagnostics and dependence on third parties for collaboration in developing new tests, and risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including quarterly reports on Form10-Q, reports on Form 8-K, and annual reports on Form 10-K. Recent experience with respect to laboratory services, revenues, and results of operations may not be indicative of future results for the reasons set forth above. Clarient does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained in this document.

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