Date: 2012-04-23
Type of information: Development agreement
Compound: BAG3 protein biomarker
Company: Abcodia (UK) Biouniversa (Italy)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: development
Action mechanism:
Disease: pancreatic cancer
Details: Abcodia, a biomarker validation company, has today announced a collaboration with Biouniversa Srl, a spin off from the University of Salerno, which aims to advance the development of the BAG3 protein biomarker for use in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Biouniversa has strong scientific evidence that suggests that serum BAG3 is elevated in patients with pancreatic cancer at the time of clinical diagnosis. Working with Abcodia, the company now aims to further develop the BAG3-based immunodiagnostic by assessing its utility for detecting pancreatic cancer at the earliest stages and in asymptomatic individuals.
Abcodia and Biouniversa will work closely to design a series of longitudinal studies, identify preclinical cohort samples from the serum biobank suitable for the evaluation of Biouniversa BAG3 ELISA assay, a technology that has been developed by Prof M.C. Turco and her group from University of Salerno, coordinated by the Prevost, Prof. Raimondo Pasquino.
The collaboration aims to build up a unique package of data that will support the licensing of the IP to a development partner. Both Abcodia and Biouniversa will work in partnership to identify the most suitable licensee. The companies expect to seek a commercial licensee over the next 12 months.
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