Biomarker Commons

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) recently announced it has acquired two investigational positron emission tomography (PET) tracers from Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. The tracers are intended to image tau (or neurofibrillary) tangles in the brain, one of two known hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Based on studies of samples obtained at autopsy, the amount and location of tau tangles in an Alzheimer's disease patient's brain is thought to correlate with the severity of the disease.

For women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer, the amount of HER2 on their tumor might determine how much they benefit from a drug called trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), according to data from a subanalysis of the phase III clinical trial that led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug on Feb. 22, 2013. These findings were presented by José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., physician-in-chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10.

KineMed Inc. (www.kinemed.com) today announced the renewal of a non-exclusive research collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) for the advancement of novel approaches towards metabolic disease, in particular Type II Diabetes. The collaboration will employ KineMed’s unique dynamic proteomics technology platform to map the impact of potential drug candidates on specific metabolic pathways.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have identified biomarkers that can be used to determine ovarian cancer survival and recurrence, and have shown how these biomarkers interact with each other to affect these outcomes. Their findings appear in the journal PLOS ONE.

Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR), a leading provider of near-patient diagnostics and health information solutions, recently announced the final results of the HABIT pilot study, which were recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Led by Dr. Alan Maisel , Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, the study is the first to capture serial data from patients at high risk for recurrent acute clinical heart failure decompensation (ADHF), who performed a fingerstick BNP self-test from home for a period of 60 days.

MentisCura Diagnostics (www.mentiscura.com) recently announced the launch of its first clinical center for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. The operational launch brings sophisticated biomarkers capable of assisting early, differential diagnosis into a clinical setting and provides for the first time cutting edge electrophysiological analysis developed by MentisCura to the general public through community physicians.