Fast Forward will pay Ezose Sciences up to $390,000 in support of a collaboration focused on applying the latter’s GlycanMap® technology to identify multiple sclerosis biomarkers for disease diagnosis, differentiating subtypes of the disease, and aiding in disease management. Fast Forward is a nonprofit translational medicine arm of the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
The partners aim to incorporate resulting biomarkers into diagnostic tests for improving prognosis, therapeutic decision making, and therapeutic response evaluation. Through the collaboration Ezose will work with Anthony Reder, M.D., professor of neurology at the University of Chicago Medicine.
Ezose was established in 2009 in the U.S. as a subsidiary of Japanese firm Shionogi’s diagnostics division. The firm’s GlycanMap is a glycan analysis technology platform that combines a bead-based glycan capture technology with automated sample processing, high-throughput MALDI mass spectrometry and full bioinformatics capabilities, to generate high-throughput qualitative and quantitative mapping of glycans from diverse sample types.
The firm is exploiting the platform in combination with expertise in glycan and protein research (including LC, LC/MS, MSn, glycopeptide analysis, protein analysis, immunoassays, and microarray assays), to generate an internal and partnered pipeline of disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and also through turnkey or collaborative services and projects to support biologic drug development and manufacture. Ezose has established collaborations with Merck, Sigma-Tau, and Hirosaki University.