LONDON, March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Curidium Medica plc, today announced that it has confirmed the existence of four unique and statistically significantly different (p<0.001) subgroups of schizophrenia/bipolar disorder patients in a second study of post-mortem brain samples. Using Homomatrix, Curidium's proprietary tool, the gene expression profiles of 90 schizophrenic/bipolar disorder patients and matched controls were analyzed. These expression profiles were the result of a genome-wide screening of more than 22,000 gene probes using the Affymetrix Genechip(TM) technology (data obtained from the Stanley Medical Research Institute). The results of this analysis showed that each patient/control was again a member of only one of the four subgroups and each subgroup was associated with a unique and finite number of genes. The genes identified in each subgroup include known and novel drug targets, and the Company is in the process of mapping the gene networks and submitting the necessary patents.
"This is the first time that the existence of different patient subgroups with unique gene expression profiles has been demonstrated in two independent cohorts of schizophrenic and bipolar disorder patients", stated Dr. Anne Bruinvels, CEO of Curidium Medica plc, "These results confirm the potential power of our Homomatrix tool to identify diagnostic targets and directly tie these to a potential treatment for a patient subgroup".
The Company is in the process of analyzing gene expression data from blood samples of a separate and different group of schizophrenic/bipolar disorder patients and controls as the next step towards the development a potential diagnostic test for schizophrenic/bipolar disorder patient subgroups with concomitant selection of the most appropriate drug treatment.
About Homomatrix(R)
Homomatrix is a fully automated analysis tool that uses proprietary pattern recognition tools and sequences of mathematical algorithms together with state-of-the-art statistical methods to objectively analyze large sets of gene expression and biological data from heterogeneous populations. These analyses can potentially lead to the development of diagnostics that identify treatment-responsive patients and/or patient subgroups, signalling pathways as well as drug targets. It is anticipated that Homomatrix could be of significant value in the drug development arena where the "most likely to respond" patients could be pre-selected to clinical trials.
About Schizophrenia/Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized in the active phase by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts/speech, disorganized or catatonic behaviour, and apathy. It is estimated that 1% of the general population suffer from schizophrenia.
Bipolar affective disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a mental illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression. The person's mood usually swings from overly "high" and irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, with periods of normal mood in between. It is estimated that 0.5% of the general population suffer from bipolar affective disorder.
The global market for antipsychotics, which are used to treat schizophrenia and frequently bipolar affective disorder was valued at US$12.5 billion in 2004 and is expected to grow to US$20.5 billion by 2009 (The CNS Market Outlook to 2010, Reuters Business Insights, 2005).
Further information about schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder can be found at www.schizophrenia.com or www.moodswing.org.
About Curidium
Curidium is a company focused on identifying targeted medicines to treat patients more effectively. Through the application of its proprietary technology, Homomatrix, Curidium analyses biological data (mRNA/protein data) from patients suffering from complex or multi-factorial diseases. Patient populations with complex disorders are known to be heterogeneous and only certain sub-groups of patients respond to a specific treatment. Curidium believes that Homomatrix will ultimately allow for the development of the right drug for the right patient. The Company files patents around the genes and drug targets that are associated with the specific subgroups of patients.
Further information on Curidium can be found at the Company's website: www.curidium.com.
Curidium Medica PLCCONTACT: For further information please contact: Anne Bruinvels,+44-(0)-20-7554-8790, CEO Curidium Medica plc. Rob Smith,+44-(0)-20-7554-8793, Finance Director Curidium Medica plc. Rhodri Cruwys,+44-(0)-20-7448-4400, Corporate Synergy plc
