Biomarker company Nordic Bioscience announced the strengthening of its ongoing collaboration with Roche Diagnostics for the development of proprietary biomarkers involved in tissue breakdown and build-up.
Nordic Bioscience is a provider in Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) biomarker development that can provide fast and objective decision-making for compound selection and development in clinical trials as well as provide value for patients in a diagnostic setting.
Under the collaboration, Nordic Bioscience will transfer unique and proprietary blood-based biomarkers to Roche Diagnostics to be implemented on its automated COBAS platform. Nordic Bioscience’s ECM biomarkers are aimed at all chronic diseases involving tissue fibrosis and inflammation. The collaboration will facilitate better clinical decisions in drug development and patient selection as well as enrichment for precision medicine and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
Nordic Biosciences has a longstanding collaboration with Roche Diagnostics. To date, two biomarkers have been commercialized and implemented on the Roche automated COBAS platform. Nordic Bioscience’s fibrogenesis biomarker PRO-C3 has become a commonly used next-generation and noninvasive biomarker to quantify type III collagen formation which is highly relevant for NASH and other fibrotic diseases.
PRO-C6 quantifies type VI collagen formation, which is highly relevant for cardiovascular diseases and various cancer types. The FDA recently published a letter of support for further studies of PRO-C6 as a trial enrichment and patient selection biomarker in relation to Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF).
PRO-C3 and PRO-C6 are part of Nordic Bioscience’s portfolio of ECM biomarkers which are being developed and commercialized both as research tools and in the future as diagnostic products. Both biomarkers have completed the technical development from manual ELISA to automated version on the COBAS platform. They are validated and currently running in routine in the CAP-accredited laboratory of Nordic Bioscience.
“The collaboration with Roche Diagnostics is an important step for Nordic Bioscience in our efforts to help accelerate drug development,” says Morten Karsdal, chief executive officer of Nordic Bioscience. “Having our biomarkers on the Roche Diagnostics’ platform and our combined capabilities will secure global availability of our best ECM biomarkers. This also adds significant value to Nordic Bioscience offerings as we transform our biomarkers from tools used only in clinical development to globally available diagnostics products.”
Nordic Bioscience has a long track record of research in ECM remodeling, which previously has resulted in the transfer of the FDA-approved bone biomarker CTX-I to the Roche COBAS platform. Nordic Bioscience has developed more than 125 ELISA biomarkers focusing on quantifying unique fragments of the ECM. These tools are used in all phases of drug development and for patient selection in various diseases.
