Selventa announce development focus on a new class of diagnostic test for autoimmune disease and cancer
‘Multi-omic’ biomarker diagnostics will look to improve patient therapy selection.
Selventa (MA, USA) has recently announced that it is developing a new class of diagnostic test, known as SysDx™, to effectively guide treatment for cancer patients and individuals with autoimmune disease. The tests, which will comprise ‘multi-omic’ biomarkers, will utilize a Big Data analysis of a patient’s biological profile from disciplines including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, and also from electronic medical record information.
Selventa has achieved proof-of-concept for SysDx tests in numerous cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The company also announce that its lead SysDx product will be Clarify-RA, a test that will be able to predict the response of patients suffering with rheumatoid arthritis to the standard of care anti-TNF therapy.
David de Graaf, President and Chief Executive Officer of Selventa, commented on the announcement, “SysDx testing is a much needed progression from ‘single-omic’ tests that today are largely limited to the analyses of genetic aberrations in a patients disease. Because the molecular drivers of disease are manifested across thousands of interrelated biochemical pathways, it is vital that a diagnostic be able to test for a more comprehensive set of disease-relevant biomarkers. SysDx testing promises to capture a more detailed profile of a patient’s disease leading to more informed healthcare decisions.”
Hoping that SysDx will, “accelerate the implementation of personalized healthcare”, de Graaf added, “SysDx is a natural outgrowth of our successful 10 year heritage as a leader in systems biology and biomarker identification for pharma and biotech. Our ‘Big Data’ analytics and algorithms uniquely integrate, process, and analyze different molecular information from thousands of patients to identify biomarkers. This unique capability is the foundation for SysDx tests that will have stronger validation, higher reliability and provide superior predictive and prognostic capabilities.”