NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Immunexpress announced yesterday that it has formed a four-year alliance with the University of Amsterdam's Academic Medical Center (AMC) to characterize and clinically evaluate sepsis-related biomarker signatures of host response.
The partners will specifically evaluate proprietary biomarker signatures, as well as novel RNA, protein, and epigenetic biomarkers, with the goal of advancing Immunexpress' pipeline of host response products for the management of patients with or suspected of having sepsis.
Immunexpress will provide the institute with an unspecified amount of funding, and will be responsible for bioinformatic partnering and product development and commercialization. AMC researchers will publish findings resulting from the collaboration, as well as continue its commercially oriented research and development efforts under the Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Stratification of Sepsis (MARS) consortium — a clinical study of around 8,000 patients with sepsis or at risk of developing the condition.
The deal marks the latest step forward in an ongoing relationship between Immunexpress and AMC scientists. Late last year, they published data describing the development and clinical validation of SeptiCyte, the firm's flagship RT-qPCR host-response assay for sepsis diagnosis.
"Through this [latest] partnership we hope to obtain a greater understanding of the host response to infection, sepsis, and septic shock, and to further aid in improved sepsis patient management," Immunexpress President and CEO Roslyn Brandon said in a statement.