NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Oxford BioDynamics and the University of Glasgow today announced a partnership to identify biomarkers for the differentiation of responders from non-responders to methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The deal allows the university to use OBD's EpiSwitch platform for the discovery and monitoring of highly specific epigenetic biomarkers called chromosome conformation signatures, which define and control important aspects of epigenetics and gene regulation. According to the firm, its EpiSwitch platform enables early detection of aberrant gene expression in very low copy numbers and in a small sample of abnormal cells.
The deal between OBD and the University of Glasgow, they said, will shed light on loci that are epigenetically unresponsive to methotrexate treatment, leading to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Last month OBD and the Genome Institute of Singapore reached a deal to identify epigenetic signatures in stem cells using the EpiSwitch platform.