Paris – Cardinor AS has secured $1.44 million to commercialize development of a novel ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) blood test that uses secretoneurin as a blood-based biomarker for heart disease and sudden cardiac arrest. London-based Intuitive Investments Group plc participated in this third seed round, along with existing Belgium and German investors.
Diagnostics company Sphingotec GmbH is looking to break into the U.S. market with a pair of biomarker assays that could help determine the best treatment for critically ill patients at risk for septic shock. The two assays, which are run on the company’s point-of-care Nexus IB10 immunoassay platform, measure bioactive adrenomedullin (bio-ADM), a hormone that maintains endothelial function; and dipeptidyl peptidase 3 (DPP3), an enzyme that inactivates angiotensin II when released into the blood.
A definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease often isn’t arrived at until after a patient dies, when their brain is examined during autopsy. Neurovision Imaging Inc. is hoping to change that with reliable, affordable biomarker tests that can detect Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and neurodegenerative disorders before symptoms appear.
Diagnostics innovator Renalytix AI plc and dialysis giant Davita Inc. partnered to develop a program to identify individuals with early-stage kidney disease and improve outcomes for the 37 million Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The companies plan to launch the collaborative effort in three cities in 2021 to build a diverse, real-world evidence dataset as a base for moving forward.
Pharmaceutical pain management has aided billions of patients, but has also created millions of cases of addiction, a problem that is driving research into pain. Omowunmi Sadik of the New Jersey Institutes of Technology, said on a recent webinar that the Biosensor Materials for Advanced Research & Technology (BioSMART) Center, is working on a suite of biosensors that may aid in the detection of the molecular markers associated with pain.
Bluestar Genomics Inc. and the University of Chicago revealed the publication of a genome-wide 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) map across multiple human tissue types. In the report, published Dec. 2, 2020, in Nature Communications, the researchers detailed the development of the map by characterizing the genomic distributions of 5hmC in 19 human tissues derived from 10 organ systems.
The draft version of the U.S. Medicare national coverage analysis for blood-based biomarker tests for colorectal cancer (CRC) engendered a large body of support, but several stakeholders recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) avoid prescriptiveness regarding the sensitivity and specificity for any tests that would be covered under the policy.
TORONTO – Toronto-based Sqi Diagnostics Inc. has reported significant clinical progress developing three novel COVID-19 tests for submission for U.S. FDA emergency use authorization.
PARIS – Integragen SA and OncoDNA SA have signed a tender offer agreement anticipating a takeover bid. Gosselies, Belgium-based OncoDNA will purchase 100% of the shares of Integragen, floated on the Euronext Paris Euronext Growth Markets, at a unit price of $2.60, valuing the latter’s share capital at $17.2 million.
Adarza Biosystems Inc.’s Ziva platform can simultaneously detect hundreds of proteins, antibodies, or substrates from a single drop of blood, plasma or serum, providing insight into an individual’s immune response. That could be critical for both surveillance and diagnostic purposes as the nation prepares for a likely second wave of the novel coronavirus in the fall when multiple respiratory pathogens will be circulating.
