Caprion received a research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to identify protein biomarkers associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Over the years, multiple candidate Parkinson’s biomarkers have been identified, but none have been validated for diagnosing and monitoring the disease. Caprion said the goals of the project are to identify and validate biomarkers not only for the early detection and diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, but also to enable monitoring of disease progression and assess the effectiveness of experimental therapies.

The collaboration includes the use of Caprion’s mass spectrometry-based CNS ProteoCarta™ assay panel of 142 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases.  An additional 50 proteins with a previous link to Parkinson’s disease will be added to the multiple reaction monitoring assay, which will be used to analyze CSF from Parkinson’s disease patients and control subjects.

“We believe that our approach to building highly multiplexed protein assays is well matched to the need for triaging the many candidate biomarkers identified in the literature but not yet validated,” said Daniel Chelsky, CSO at Caprion and principal investigator for the collaboration. “Analyzing approximately 200 relevant proteins in the same assay will also accelerate that process and conserve rare test samples.”

“A Parkinson’s biomarker would be a game changer for drug development in our field,” said Catherine Kopil, Ph.D., associate director of research programs at MJFF. “Caprion’s advanced techniques and thorough approach bring with them high potential to identify novel protein biomarkers that could serve as valuable tools for individual disease management and testing of new therapies.”

Caprion says its mission is to partner with pharmaceutical and biotech companies through proteomics and immune monitoring enabling the acceleration of precision medicine in drug development. In February, Caprion entered a collaboration with Global Genomics Group to identify blood-based protein markers for the GLOBAL (Genetic LOci and Burden of Atherosclerotic Lesions) study.

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