NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Children's Hospital Colorado and SomaLogic today announced a collaboration aimed at the discovery of protein biomarkers for diagnosing and managing childhood diseases.
Using SomaLogic's SomaScan assay, which measures more than 1,000 proteins from a patient's sample, researchers will analyze proteins from blood samples obtained from children suffering from diseases, and then select those proteins that are correlated with particular diseases and their severity to potentially develop laboratory tests for clinical use.
The research is being headed by Robin Deterding, director of the Breathing Institute at Children's Hospital Colorado and a professor of pulmonary medicine in the pediatrics department at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The agreement follows successful initial exploratory research by the partners.
"We have a unique 'game changing' opportunity to rapidly discover and apply blood-based protein biomarkers for the early diagnosis of rare and common pediatric lung diseases, but also for the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of many other childhood diseases," Deterding said in a statement.
SomaLogic CEO Byron Hewitt added that the hospital's clinical experience paired with his firm's proteomics expertise "should lead to both a deeper understanding of the biology of these devastating diseases and to new ways to manage them more precisely and effectively."
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.