WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Tuesday that Bioarray Genetics, a Farmington biotech company housed at University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Technology Incubation Program (TIP), is “Murphy’s Innovator of the Month.”

Bioarray Genetics focuses on using genomics and machine learning to predict the treatment outcomes of cancer patients. As the role of genomics in determining an individualized treatment plan for patients became an everyday reality, Marcia Fournier used her 20+ years of molecular and cellular biology to establish Bioarray Genetics to help oncologists better understand which treatment is best for their patients.

Located within UConn’s Cell & Genome Sciences Building, Bioarray has witnessed many breakthroughs and discoveries since its founding in 2009. Bioarray’s first test, the BA100 Triple Negative Breast Cancer Stratification Test, which addresses a significant area of unmet medical need, is now available under clinical studies to select oncologists in the United States. Prior to the BA100 Stratification Test, no test existed in clinical use for the stratification of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients as there are for HER2+ and ER+ Breast Cancers. Because of the BA100 Stratification Test, Bioarray can identify the approximately 67% of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients who will not achieve a complete response to the standard-of-care chemotherapy. Bioarray’s work continues to be supported by Connecticut Innovation and the UCONN Innovation Fund.

“Marcia’s vision and innovative work identifying treatments that best serve cancer patients cannot be overstated,” Murphy said. “I am very happy to highlight the groundbreaking work being done at Bioarray Genetics.”

“On behalf of the entire Bioarray team, we are honored and proud of this award. The state of Connecticut has continued to support Bioarray as we pursue our mission of providing more actionable answers to cancer patients. We have benefited significantly from the science community as well as the entrepreneur community throughout the state. Thank you for recognizing us for what we have accomplished. We look forward to sharing all of our successes as we bring our first test for Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients to market next year,” said Marcia Fournier, Founder and CEO of Bioarray Genetics.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies – the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

 

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