AUSTIN, Texas, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM) today announced the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has granted it a Company Commercialization Award to expand and enhance the OncologyMAP program for discovery and development of novel diagnostic and prognostic cancer tests. The award of approximately $3 million will fund research and development to more than double the number of cancer-associated biomarker assays in RBM’s new OncologyMAP product.
“Better cancer outcomes begin with more accurate and earlier detection,” said Karri Ballard, Ph.D., RBM’s director of diagnostic initiatives. “Advanced prognostic and companion diagnostic tests are on the minds of clinicians, patients and administrators, who all desire effective and efficient tools to help save lives. An expanded OncologyMAP effort applied to numerous types of malignancies heightens the chances of identifying and validating these important tools.”
“The CPRIT was created to invest in the people and projects that will find a cure for cancer,” said Jimmy Mansour, the Institute’s oversight committee chairman. “The groundbreaking work singled out today brings us one step closer to that ambitious goal.”
The award submission entitled “Development of a Multi-Analyte Profile (MAP) Test for Broad Applications in Oncology” outlines a three-year plan to develop and validate multiplexed immunoassays that accurately measure an additional 150 to 180 blood-based biomarkers that are thought by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to be associated with cancer. The Company believes the resulting product will include the largest number of quantitative immunoassays available for use in discovering and validating new diagnostic, prognostic, and companion diagnostic tests for oncology. The RBM submission was evaluated and awarded through a peer-reviewed, competitive process. Funding is subject to the completion of due diligence and contract finalization between RBM and CPRIT.
About the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas. CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and to enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state. CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas. More information about CPRIT is available at its website, www.cprit.state.tx.us.
About Rules-Based Medicine (RBM)
Rules-Based Medicine’s biomarker testing service provides clinical researchers, physicians and healthcare providers with reproducible, quantitative, multiplexed data for hundreds of proteins to advance drug development and patient care. The Company’s proprietary Multi Analyte Profiling (MAP) technology offers pre-clinical and clinical researchers broad, cost-effective protein analyses in multiple species from a small sample volume. MAP technology also supports RBM’s drive to develop diagnostics that aid in the detection of complex diseases and conditions in areas of unmet medical need such as neuropsychiatry, nephrology, immunology and cardiology. RBM’s initial molecular diagnostic test, VeriPsychtm, is a blood-based test that aids in the confirmation of diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia by evaluating a proprietary set of 51 biomarkers. RBM also offers innovative and proprietary ex vivo testing systems such as TruCulture, the first fully-closed, reproducible whole blood culture system. More information about RBM is located at www.rbmmaps.com.
OncologyMAP is a trademark of Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.
SOURCE Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.
