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 11 16 07 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch article by Rachel Melcer Startup Helps in Search for Effective Diagnostics Researchers at Washington University are using technology from a local biotech startup in the search for more effective diagnostic tests and treatments for cancer, diabetes, and other ailments. Singulex Inc., which has its research base at the Center for Emerging Technologies business incubator in St. Louis, said Thursday that its Erenna™ system has been installed in the proteomics lab at Washington University's Siteman Cancer Center. The system allows scientists to detect in blood samples minute amounts of proteins, known as biomarkers, that indicate the presence of disease. Researchers will use the system to ask important clinical questions about how to find and track the progress of Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, stroke, breast, and other cancers, said Singulex chief executive Philippe Goix. Erenna also can help to measure how a disease responds to treatment — for example, whether a cancer has been eradicated or is reappearing after surgery or a dose of a drug. "We want to determine whether the Erenna system can assess the effectiveness of novel anti-cancer drugs early in their development and predict patients' responses to these therapies," said Dr. Samuel Stanley, vice chancellor of research at Washington University, in a statement. Goix said the collaboration, which has an initial two-year term but could be extended, "is a big deal for us. … This is a milestone we've worked hard to get and it's a testament to our technology." Singulex separately is receiving a $900,000 research grant from the National Cancer Institute to "expand the menu" of cancer biomarkers by finding and verifying additional proteins that are linked to particular types of tumors, Goix said. The company will carry out the project using tissue and blood samples provided by Washington University, along with chemical reagents from St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich Corp. Singulex has a 10-person research team at the Center for Emerging Technologies, plus nine employees at a commercial operations base in Hayward, California. The ability to find local collaborators and suppliers — as well as venture capital funding from Clayton-based Prolog Ventures — "strengthens our research foothold in St. Louis," Goix said. Published in the Business section of the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday, November 16, 2007.
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