Source MDx Is Awarded An SBIR Phase I Grant From The National Institutes of Health (NIH) To Develop Biomarkers To Track Hepatitis C

BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Source MDx announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to initiate the development of a molecular diagnostic test that will characterize Hepatitis C infected patients and their response to standard-of-care therapy.

Source MDx has the ability to analyze biomarkers from a wide variety of samples including a blood sample, which is less invasive than many current clinical tests such as liver biopsy. "Although HCV targets the liver, sampling of whole blood is relatively non-invasive and peripheral blood is representative of many systemic processes," said Lisa Siconolfi, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Studies at Source MDx. "Changes in gene expression in the blood from HCV patients could yield important foundational information for the development of a patient care diagnostic in the area of infectious diseases."

The development of clinically useful RNA-based biomarkers has been inhibited in the past by the inability to measure gene expression with sufficient precision, as well as the presumption that gene expression is too variable within and between individuals. Source MDx has successfully addressed the issues of precision measurement (US patent no. 6,692,916) and has established a normal range of human gene expression (US patent no. 6,960,439), laying the foundation for the use of RNA-based molecular diagnostics to monitor an individual's health, disease status and response to therapy.

"We are pleased that the National Institutes of Health continues to recognize the potential impact of Source MDx's enabling technology in the development of RNA-based molecular diagnostics," said Jim Walther, Vice President of Business Development at Source MDx. "This capability is valuable for many additional diseases that are particularly difficult and expensive to diagnose and treat, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus and Inflammatory Bowel Disease."

The grant provides $100,000 in funding over a one-year period. Source MDx will use the SBIR funding to characterize gene expression patterns from whole blood in HCV patients and monitor their response to treatment at the molecular level. This is the fourth SBIR grant Source MDx has received.

About Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus infection or HCV is a significant clinical problem throughout the world. In the United States, The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 3.9 million Americans have been infected with the virus. About 85% of people infected with HCV develop chronic infection and approximately 70% of patients develop chronic liver disease. Though many people with hepatitis C may not experience symptoms nor be aware of their infection, others may have symptoms such as jaundice and fatigue. Cirrhosis due to chronic HCV is now the leading indication for liver transplantation in the United States. Early detection and monitoring of disease progression could reduce the incidence of HCV-related liver disease, and reduce the overall cost of treatment.

About Source MDx

Source MDx uses its patented molecular diagnostic system to monitor an individual's health, disease status and response to therapy at the molecular level, using RNA from whole blood or tissue samples. Source MDx markets over 20 patented disease and pathway-specific biomarker panels that are used in both preclinical and clinical drug development, and is developing companion patient care diagnostics focused on inflammation and immune response genes. The company has completed over 100 preclinical and clinical projects for more than 30 leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies, with over one million gene expression measurements analyzed.

CONTACT: Michelle Linn of Source MDx, +1-508-419-1555,linnmich@sourcemdx.com

Web site: http://www.sourcemdx.com/