On Monday (16 September), University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out Atturos announced that it is one step closer to a European launch of a diagnostic blood test to predict the onset of diabetic kidney disease.
The announcement was made after Proteomics International Laboratories, a medtech company headquartered in Perth, Australia, said that it has successfully transferred its PromarkerD technology to the labs of Atturos, its clinical diagnostics partner.
PromarkerD is a diagnostic blood test that uses a unique protein ‘fingerprint’ to provide early detection of the onset of diabetic kidney disease.
Now that the technology has been transferred to Atturos, the spin-out will be able to provide PromarkerD as a mass spectrometry laboratory developed test (MS-LDT) to license partners in the European market.
European launch
Following the completion of a licensing deal with pharma company Patia Europe, Proteomics announced that PromarkerD would launch in a European country for the first time. The country selected for the launch is Spain. Patia Europe is commercialising PromarkerD with the LDT being offered by Atturos.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Atturos said: “The completion of the technology transfer coincides with the recent publication of the results of the PromarkerD clinical validation study in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.
“In the clinical study, PromarkerD correctly predicted 86pc of otherwise healthy diabetic patients who went on to develop chronic kidney disease within four years.”
Dr Richard Lipscombe, managing director of Proteomics International, added: “We are excited to be able to offer the PromarkerD test in Europe for the first time and are working hard to give patients around the world the opportunity to know their diabetic kidney disease status.
“With dialysis treatment costing approximately €80,000 per year, PromarkerD has the potential to save patients and healthcare systems billions of dollars.”
‘Significant milestone’
In Europe, diabetes currently affects around 58m people, a number that is expected to rise to 67m by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
An estimated one in three adults with diabetes already have chronic kidney disease, but with early intervention it is possible to delay or prevent clinical symptoms of the disease.
Prof Stephen Pennington, founder and chief science officer of Atturos, said: “It is a significant milestone for our two pioneering companies to be expanding the use of mass spectrometry for new clinical diagnostic tests, such as PromarkerD.”
Proteomics International has plans to expand the global reach of PromarkerD even further, and is in talks with tier-1 diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies targeting markets in Europe, Japan, India and the US.
Kelly Earley
This article first appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found at:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/atturos-promarkerd-proteomic