A Medical Device Daily

Metabolon (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) a speclialist of metabolomics-driven biomarker discovery reported yesterday, the signing of a contract supporting the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). The collaboration uses Metabolon’s metabolomics platform to study the biochemical profiles of humans given the AVA anthrax vaccine. The AVA vaccine is the only FDA-licensed anthrax vaccine for humans.

“This collaboration represents the first large-scale metabolomics study of human subjects given a vaccine,” said Mike Milburn, Metabolon’s chief scientific officer. “This type of comprehensive biochemical profiling will help USAMRIID better understand the vaccine’s safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action.”

Metabolon said its technology can identify safer compounds for development, shorten a drug’s time to market and identify novel biomarkers for earlier disease detection. In 2006, Metabolon was awarded a patent that broadly covers the metabolomic methods used to identify biomarkers seen in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

USAMRIID is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program and conducts basic and applied research on biological threats resulting in medical solutions (such as vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to protect the warfighter.