Biotech Benchmark Surpassed: LumiCyte Generates Human Serum Protein Maps with up to 1,500 Features
FREMONT, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--April 8, 2002-- LumiCyte, Inc., a biotechnology services innovator, today announced that it had broken through existing barriers associated with the mapping of human serum proteins: LumiCyte's digital protein maps reveal more than 1,500 distinct features directly from single drop volumes of serum. As evidence to the power of LumiCyte's proprietary system, this new landmark capability increases -- by up to five times -- the capability associated with some of today's most sophisticated technologies; technologies that often reveal no more than a few hundred serum proteins unless used in combination with other separation methods.
``In contrast to current technologies that let proteins go undetected, the advanced set of SELDI biochips and SELDI-enabled tools created by LumiCyte's scientists are proving to be extraordinarily powerful, especially with important bioregulatory proteins present in only trace quantities,'' said Dr. T. William Hutchens, LumiCyte founder, CEO and inventor of SELDI technology. ``It's exciting to see the broader potential of SELDI being realized. We believe our accomplishments represent a big leap in opportunity that will be especially advantageous to the execution of more successful clinical trials, benefiting pharmaceutical companies and patients alike.''
LumiCyte's revolutionary SELDI (Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization) Protein Biochip platform is helping the company achieve one of its primary strategic objectives: to generate the world's most comprehensive map of human serum proteins, with a particular focus on those proteins that change with altered health states such as the onset of disease. To meet this goal, LumiCyte has integrated its proprietary SELDI protein biochip function with its suite of proprietary data analysis tools and the information content of its unique BioPhore Knowledgebase(TM), allowing LumiCyte to explode current protein-mapping benchmarks. LumiCyte holds exclusive rights to provide SELDI-based services to companies in the life science industry and partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies looking to optimize their multi-million dollar drug development efforts.
The typical clinical researcher, even in the best-equipped laboratories, is rarely able to visualize more than a few hundred distinct protein features from a small volume of unfractionated (unprocessed) serum. Because of the complexity of human serum, many of the more common methods rarely enable researchers to ``see'' more than 150-200 features. This limitation makes it difficult to generate the kind of detailed protein information needed by pharmaceutical companies to be more successful in their efforts to develop drugs. The difference between routinely mapping 1,500 proteins and only 300 proteins represents a five-fold loss of discovery potential.
Today, one of the reasons that it takes up to $800M to bring a single drug to market is the complex inefficiencies and irregularities associated with the all-important clinical trials process. In order to gain FDA approval, drug makers must demonstrate the effectiveness of their drugs in a selected target population. There is often too little information that can be used to select the most appropriate patients, to characterize adequately the type and stage of disease progression in each patient, and to ascertain whether each patient in a trial is well-suited to showcase the tested drug's capabilities. LumiCyte scientists use the company's SELDI technology to provide services that address each of these issues. LumiCyte believes its ability to rapidly discover and validate the clinical utility of novel serum protein biomarker profiles is unparalleled.
Protein data generated from LumiCyte's powerful biochip is added continuously to the company's BioPhore Knowledgebase(TM), a database that combines information from thousands of human serum/plasma proteins with genomic, proteomic and clinical information from both exclusive and public domain sources. This information, together with routine access to patient-specific protein profiles is used to provide clinical collaborators and physicians with the knowledge of early disease onset, disease type and level of progression, and the ability to routinely monitor individual response to therapy.
About LumiCyte:
The advanced, proprietary biotechnology services offered by Fremont, CA-based LumiCyte, Inc. allow pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to optimize drug development, and enable physicians to offer more individualized and accurate care to their patients. www.lumicyte.com |
