A Medical Device Daily

The Channel Group (New York) said it has formed Lesanne Life Sciences (Ivoryton, Connecticut), a diagnostic company developing a simple blood test to detect the occurrence of a stroke.

Lesanne said that its diagnostic test is designed to detect low levels of a protein biomarker present only in the brain and related central nervous system tissue of healthy individuals.

In a pilot clinical trial, the biomarker was present in blood samples obtained from stroke patients, but was not found in control patients. Pre-clinical experiments showed that the biomarker was detectable readily within 15 minutes of induction of a stroke in animal models. The company said that these findings imply that it might be possible for emergency personnel and physicians to confirm the occurrence of stroke, even before a patient is subjected to imaging.

The company is developing both a qualitative blood test to be used in emergency settings for diagnosing a stroke and a quantitative blood test to be used in the hospital to monitor recovery from a stroke.

Lesanne's stroke diagnostic is being developed to meet the need for a fast, easy-to-administer test for stroke. The company also plans to extend the use of its biomarker as a diagnostic for neurological ischemia associated with traumatic brain injury and various medical procedures, including coronary artery bypass graft surgery, cardiac surgery, and coronary angiography and angioplasty.

Lesanne's founders are Robert Beckman, Allan Goldberg, PhD, Philip Sussman, Ann Cornell-Bell, PhD, and Leslie Riblet, PhD.