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CASTLE BIOSCIENCES NEWS RELEASE Castle Biosciences to Acquire Cernostics 10/19/2021 Fuels mid- and long - term growth with TissueCypherⓇ platform enabling GI franchise Acquisition will expand Castle's estimated U.S. TAM by approximately $ 1 billion Castle executive management to host conference call and webcast today at 7:30 a.m. ET FRIENDSWOOD , Texas -- ( BUSINESS WIRE ) -- Castle Biosciences , Inc. ( Nasdaq : CSTL ) , applying innovative diagnostics to transform disease management and improve patient outcomes , today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cernostics , Inc. ( Cernostics ) , an Illumina Ventures company . Cernostics specializes in spatial biology and artificial intelligence - driven image analysis of tissue biopsies . Its TissueCypher® Barrett's Esophagus Assay is the first precision medicine test designed to predict future development of high - grade dysplasia ( HGD ) and / or esophageal cancer in patients with Barrett's esophagus ( BE ) . " We are pleased to welcome Cernostics into the Castle family , " said Derek Maetzold , president and CEO of Castle Biosciences . " Acquiring the TissueCypher platform is aligned with our commitment to utilizing innovative technology to provide clinically actionable information that guides disease management and improves patient outcomes . The TissueCypher Barrett's Esophagus Assay addresses an unmet need in BE , as it is designed to objectively and accurately predict progression from non - dysplastic , indefinite for dysplasia and low - grade dysplasia BE to HGD or esophageal adenocarcinoma ( EAC ) . This is critical , as EAC is highly lethal , with five - year survival rates under 20 % 1 , and intervention ( ablation ) in patients with BE has been proven to reduce progression to EAC . Unfortunately , the incidence of esophageal cancer is increasing at one of the fastest rates of all cancers in the U.S. , so we need new clinical tools to reverse this growth trend in the diagnosis of EAC . 1