sRNAlytics to Accelerate its Biomarker Discovery Platform and Services at IndieBio
Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA: sRNAlytics, an early-stage biotech startup based in Boston who has developed a software platform technology to identify small RNA biomarkers, announced today it will participate in the IndieBio Accelerator Program in San Francisco, CA.
IndieBio is an intensive 4-month business and research accelerator geared towards developing startups with promising, high-impact, technologies. SOSV, the venture capital firm that funds IndieBio, invested an undisclosed amount of seed funding in sRNAlytics.
In the mid-2000s, small non-coding RNAs gained interest as “fingerprints” were developed to classify tissue and most particularly tissue-of-unknown-origin, which is extremely important in diagnosing invasive and metastatic cancers. But, while small non-coding RNAs were proven in solid tissue, there is a lack of application in biofluids. Biofluids are important in diagnosing early-stage cancer, neurological diseases, and other diseases where there is no access to tissue for analysis.
“We’re excited to start the program” said Dr. David Salzman, Founder and CEO of sRNAlytics, “I view this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help get our biomarker discovery platform and services out to the biotech and healthcare community.”
Dr. Salzman has more than 14 years of experience in the relatively young field of small non-coding RNAs, which are tiny regulators that act as molecular traffic lights, turning on and off genes, allowing organisms to adapt to their environment. Throughout his biotech career Dr. Salzman has gained expertise and insight in microRNA and small RNA biology with an emphasis on biogenesis, activity, and detection.
"The sRNAlytics platform illuminates 'dark matter' in biological data, allowing the development of precise diagnostics and therapeutics" said Jun Axup, Science Director at IndieBio. Their new biomarker discovery platform exploits flaws in the current pipeline used for small non-coding RNA discovery and unlocks their full potential. Their disruptive technology computationally identifies biomarkers with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity.
Applying its discovery platform to Huntington’s disease sRNAlytics, along with their academic collaborators, has generated powerful proof-of-concept data and validated biomarkers with 100% accuracy to identify pre-symptomatic and symptomatic patients. “By evaluating these overlooked small RNAs, sRNAlytics is uncovering biomarkers that make it feasible to identify people who will develop neurological diseases, but do not yet show any symptoms” explained Dr. Richard H. Myers, Director of the Genome Science Institute at the Boston University School of Medicine, and sRNAlytics collaborator. “These types of biomarkers are critical for running clinical trials as they help identify the correct patients for enrollment and endpoint analysis.”
“We’re on the verge of delivering a transformative technology to the healthcare industry that will completely change the way patients are diagnosed and treated.” added Dr. Salzman.
About sRNAlytics
Founded in 2016 sRNAlytics has developed a game-changing technology capable of classifying patient samples with binary accuracy. To do this sRNAlytics utilizes a proprietary software suite developed by founder Dr. David W. Salzman that identifies small RNA biomarkers in sequencing data. The products created by sRNAlytics address an immediate need from drug developers to incorporate biomarkers into clinical trials to satisfy FDA requirements, de-risk programs, and unlock billions of dollars through cost-savings and accelerated revenue realization. sRNAlytics has two provisional patent applications to protect its method as well as the company’s Huntington’s Disease-specific biomarkers that classify disease stage, prognosis, and progression. Visit srnalytics.com to learn more.
About IndieBio
IndieBio is the world’s largest life sciences seed accelerator, with 67 funded startups since March 2015. Companies from all over the world apply to be part of a four-month acceleration program that includes $250,000 in funding, dedicated mentorship and 24/7 access to a co-working space and bio-safety level 1 & 2 research labs. IndieBio companies solve problems in a wide range of industries including biotech, healthcare, agtech, neurotech, regenerative medicine, biomaterials and the future of food among others. Visit indiebio.co to learn more.
Contact
david.salzman@srnalytics.com
@srnalytics