NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Australian government has awarded Proteomics International A$1 million (US$ 1 million) to develop biomarkers for diabetic kidney disease into a companion diagnostic test.
The funding from Commercialisation Australia — a merit-based, competitive assistance program — will be used by Perth, Australia-based Proteomics International to further validate its discovered biomarkers by performing additional analysis on patient groups. The work, the company said, should result in a more sensitive and effective molecular diagnostic test that will be able to predict kidney disease and monitor its progression in patients.
"Importantly, a companion diagnostic test that is being developed with these biomarkers may help to produce new personalized medicines, and in a shorter time frame," Richard Lipscombe, managing director of Proteomics International, said in a statement. "This could deliver optimal therapy for certain groups of patients and identify those patients where medicine would be less effective or cause side effects."
Proteomics International is a mass spectrometry-based drug discovery and contract research organization.