Ciphergen Designated as Official Technology Supplier for Major Clinical Proteomics Project in Japan
FREMONT, Calif., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CIPH - News) announced today that its Japanese wholly-owned subsidiary, Ciphergen Biosystems K.K., has been designated as one of the official technology suppliers of a major Japanese national project known as the "Drug Discovery Proteome Factory." Ciphergen has initially sold to the Proteome Factory three ProteinChip AutoBiomarker Systems and two ProteinChip Tandem MS Interfaces.
"We are extremely pleased that the SELDI ProteinChip technology has been chosen to play a role in this important research program," stated Hiroyuki Saeki, President of Ciphergen Biosystems K.K. "In addition to providing our technology, we will provide on-going technical support to the project through our field scientists and scientists at our Yokohama Biomarker Discovery Center® laboratory."
The Japan Health Science Foundation (JHSF), a subordinate organization of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW), has formed a consortium called the "Drug Discovery Proteome Factory" to carry out a national project named "Analysis of Disease-related Proteins." About 20 leading Japanese pharmaceutical companies are involved in this 5-year project as members of this consortium with the promised support of 4.5 billion Japanese Yen. The consortium aims to obtain information on disease-related proteins by large- scale and intensive analyses as well as to develop novel analytical methods with use both of frontline instruments and of human samples from people with specific diseases and age-matched normal individuals. The targeted areas of focus are 5 major diseases prevalent in Japan, namely cancer, diabetes, hypertension, asthma and dementia. A large number of normal and diseased samples will be collected throughout Japan and protein profiles will be analyzed rapidly to discover novel drug targets and disease markers. The information obtained will be used to construct a resource database for drug discovery. Integration of multiple cutting-edge technologies in proteomics and information science is considered a key for success of this project. The consortium selected enabling technologies in both fields and will develop novel methodologies for the analysis. Ciphergen's SELDI ProteinChip System was recognized as one of the core technologies for clinical proteomics in Japan and has been selected as one of the technologies for the high-throughput proteome analysis for discovery and characterization of disease-related proteins.
About Ciphergen
Ciphergen's Biosystems Division develops, manufactures and markets a family of ProteinChip® Systems and services for clinical, research, and process proteomics applications, as well as a broad range of bioseparations media for protein purification and large scale production. ProteinChip Systems enable protein discovery, characterization, identification and assay development to provide researchers with predictive, multi-marker assay capabilities and a better understanding of biological function at the protein level. Ciphergen's Diagnostics Division is dedicated to the discovery of protein biomarkers and panels of biomarkers and their development into protein molecular diagnostic tests that improve patient care; and to providing collaborative R&D services through its Biomarker Discovery Center® laboratories for biomarker discovery for new diagnostic tests as well as pharmacoproteomic services for improved drug toxicology, efficacy and theranostic assays. Additional information about Ciphergen can be found at www.ciphergen.com.
About Ciphergen Biosystems K.K.
Ciphergen Biosystems has long considered Japan to be a critical country for leading medical research, having entered the Japanese market in 1999 through the formation of Ciphergen Biosystems K.K., a joint venture established with SC BioSciences (a division of Sumitomo Corporation). In August 2002, Ciphergen Biosystems increased its ownership interest in Ciphergen Biosystems K.K. from 30% to 70% and shortly thereafter established a Biomarker Discovery Center® laboratory in Yokohama. In March 2004, Ciphergen Biosystems further increased its ownership of Ciphergen Biosystems K.K. to 100%... |
