NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Los Angeles-based startup C3-Jian and Pleasanton, Calif.-based Matrix Sensors announced after the close of the market last night that they will collaborate on peptide-based assays for an early-stage molecular diagnostics platform.
Under the deal, C3-Jian's engineered peptides will be used on Matrix Sensors' microchip molecular detector arrays, enabling initial evaluation of a diagnostic assay platform for commercial applications. The firms are aiming to develop a simple, "dipstick"-based diagnostic assay that would use the Matrix biochip and C3-Jian peptide panel.
The firms said that engineered peptides could act as replacements for antibodies in assay panels identifying specific biomarkers. They also claimed that the peptides could provide several advantages including more efficient production, lower cost, and greater reliability and robustness. In addition, they said that a peptide array could potentially detect an unknown pathogen and provide a first step towards identification.
"These efforts will allow us to further develop selective, efficacious and safer treatment modalities for infectious diseases with easier to use, lower cost, ultra-sensitive, rapid pathogen detection," Wenyuan Shi, chief scientific advisor at C3-Jian and a professor of microbiology at the UCLA School of Medicine, said in a statement.
The privately held firms did not disclose financial or further terms of the collaboration.