Protagen has agreed to apply its UNIarray technology platform and expertise in autoantibody research to support retrospective analysis of samples from a Biogen Idec clinical trial for the purpose of finding predictive and response biomarkers associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy.
The indication specific autoantibody patterns were already proven to be present in several autoimmune diseases, but also in cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.
The systematic and indication-specific determination of autoantibody patterns will serve as a powerful basis to address hitherto unmet diagnostic needs.
UNIarray serves as platform for the development of product specific companion diagnostics and patient stratification tools for clinical studies.
Protagen CSO Peter Schulz-Knappe said autoantibody signatures play an increasingly important role as a technology platform that could be used to identify patients for optimized treatment efficacy and to monitor disease progression.
Protagen is a specialist in in-vitro diagnostics and GMP-compliant protein analysis.