A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Siemens (Munich, Germany) reported launch of a project to achieve what it called “sustainable improvements” in healthcare in rural areas of China and that it will invest $10 million in the project over the next five years. It said that the project is a contribution to the Clinton Global Initiative to support poorer regions in threshold countries.

Siemens said it will initially outfit pilot hospitals with diagnostic equipment — including ultrasound and X-ray systems — in a facility in the Shaanxi Province. Not far from each rural hospital, Siemens will equip six urban health centers with X-ray and ultrasound systems. Siemens will maintain the technical infrastructure once in place.

The project, headed by China’s Ministry of Health, is part of the Clinton Global Initiative linking politics and business, as well as wealthy individuals and philanthropists, to tackle challenges faced by societies.

The project agreement was signed by Siemens and the Shaanxi Bureau of Health.

“All people, regardless of their status or origin, should have access to high-quality healthcare. This is an important prerequisite for a peaceful and just society. We are especially pleased when leading companies like Siemens provide their competence for such efforts,” commented Zhang Huaixi, vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference.

“Participation in the Clinton Global Initiative underscores Siemens’ efforts and commitment to give people worldwide access to better healthcare,” stated Dr. Richard Hausmann.

In other grant news:

• FASgen (Baltimore) reported receiving an SBIR grant from the National Cancer Institute for refinement of its serum FAS (fatty acid synthase) ELISA cancer diagnostic test, FAS-Detect ELISA. The company describes the test as an “excellent signal” signal for identifying FAS that is over-expressed by most cancers and circulates in the blood of cancer patients.

FASgen says that its therapeutic solution is a series of novel small molecule FAS inhibitors that display efficacy against many types of human cancers in animal models, affording, it said, “a new and remarkable opportunity for cancer detection and the identification of patients that will be responsive to the company’s anti-cancer therapy.”

FAS-Detect is a product of FASgen Diagnostics, an affiliate of FASgen, with the research the result of more than 15 years of efforts between it at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore). FASgen was founded seven years ago, based upon discoveries made at Hopkins.

The company said that the award supports ongoing work in the refinement of the current ELISA research test to differentiate FAS derived from cancer from FAS elaborated from normal tissues that occur in some diseases unrelated to cancer. The company’s current ELISA format identifies the over-expression of FAS in the blood of cancer patients and is sensitive to 1.6 ng./ml. FAS-Detect is available for research purposes .

In contract news:

• Pacific Biometrics (PBI; Seattle) has won a contract for specialty laboratory testing services for the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in support of a clinical study known as the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), being conducted by the NIA. The BLSA is a multidisciplinary observational study of the physiological and psychological aspects of human aging and diseases and conditions that increase with age.

PBI will provide the NIA with a series of tests for hormones and inflammatory and bone markers relevant to the study.

PBI provides specialized central laboratory and contract research services to support pharma and diagnostic manufacturers conducting human clinical trials.

• Nanogen (San Diego), developer of advanced diagnostic products, reported that it has obtained a U.S. Government Service Administration schedule contract applying to the company's NanoChip 400 microarray instrument and reagents.

The contract enables Nanogen to be listed on an approved GSA schedule and sell its NanoChip products directly to government agencies such as the NIH, military hospitals and Veteran's Administration hospitals.

The NanoChip 400 instrument is an automated multiplexing platform that laboratories use to detect genetic sequences. Tests can be performed using reagents supplied by Nanogen, or laboratories can develop a variety of "homebrew" assays. The NanoChip instrument employs Nanogen's core microarray technology, which utilizes microfluidics and electronic technology to automate sample handling and detection of results.