Benzinga | Jan 6, 2022 08:46AM EST

Natera Reports Expansion Into Early Cancer Detection Market

Dr. Alexey Aleshin to take on new role as GM of early cancer detection at Natera

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA), a leader in personalized genetic testing and diagnostics, today announced its expansion into the early cancer detection (ECD) market to advance the company's strategic growth objectives in emerging areas of ECD and screening. Alexey Aleshin, M.D., M.B.A., has been named general manager (GM) of ECD, where he will be responsible for strategy and execution for Natera's ECD products. Dr. Aleshin has previously held leadership roles overseeing Natera's oncology medical affairs and will continue to serve in that capacity while Natera conducts a search for a chief medical officer for oncology.

"In the span of just a few years, Natera has gone from being a market leader in non-invasive prenatal testing to leading the molecular residual disease (MRD) field as well. An incredible opportunity now lies ahead of us to transform the health of millions of people by detecting cancer in its early stages, when it may still be treatable and, potentially, curable," said Steve Chapman, Natera's CEO. "We're pleased to be elevating and welcoming Dr. Aleshin, a trusted leader and innovator with a proven track record in oncology, to our executive leadership team and we look forward to benefiting from his clinical expertise and strategic vision during this pivotal stage in the company's growth."

In November 2021, Natera announced exclusive access from Aarhus University to a biobank of up to 40,000 prospectively collected colorectal cancer screening samples for the development and validation of Natera's ECD products. This database of samples--the largest known of its kind--may help accelerate the introduction of Natera's ECD products to market and potentially support key commercial milestones, including the launch of a laboratory developed test and approval from the FDA.

"It's been a pleasure to work on the development and commercialization of Signatera(tm) over the last few years. I am grateful and proud of the work we've done to advance the field of MRD testing to where it is today, and I look forward to the continued success of our MRD initiatives," said Dr. Aleshin. "It's a very exciting time for us at Natera as we begin to accelerate in ECD, and I'm honored to lead this incredibly talented team. Our partnership with Aarhus University, coupled with our own early-stage genomic data, positions us well to develop innovative ECD products that have the potential to save many lives."

Dr. Aleshin joined Natera in 2017 as medical director of oncology and most recently served as vice president of oncology medical affairs. Prior to Natera, Dr. Aleshin was actively involved as an advisor and consultant at various companies focused on advancing clinical adoption of next generation sequencing technologies. He received his M.D. and M.B.A. from UCLA and later completed his residency at Stanford University Medical Center and his hematology / oncology fellowship at Stanford Hospital, where his research has focused on comprehensive genomic profiling, single cell sequencing and novel MRD technologies.