Organizations plan to develop panel of biomarker assays for use in clinical trials of SMA therapeutic candidates.

The Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Foundation and Rules-Based Medicine report reaching the final milestone in a program to develop a panel of plasma protein biomarkers for SMA using RBM’s Multi-Analyte Profiling (MAP) platform. The collaboration has focused on the discovery and validation of plasma protein biomarkers identified previously by the Biomarkers for SMA (BforSMA) clinical study, which was sponsored by the SMA Foundation and carried out by BG Medicine. The BforSMA study plasma samples were provided to RBM for processing on its DiscoveryMAP™ platform, together with an additional set of 70 biomarker assays.

The Foundation and RBM are now continuing to analyze candidate biomarkers identified through their ongoing partnership, with the aim of creating a specific panel of biomarker assays for use in clinical trials evaluating new therapeutic candidates for SMA. “Our MAP technology has been effective as part of many therapeutic development programs and for identifying biomarker patterns linked to complex diseases,” comments Craig Benson, CEO at RBM. “The confirmation and validation of biomarker patterns on our platform and the availability of testing services through our CLIA-certified lab will accelerate the development of new treatments for SMA.”

RBM provides comprehensive protein biomarker products and services based on its MAP technology platform. The firm’s flagship product, VeriPsych™, was launched commercially in October 2010 as a 51-biomarker test designed to compare a suspected schizophrenia patient’s biomarker profile to that of confirmed schizophrenic patients as an aid to diagnosis.

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