Nuclea Launches Strategic Partnership with Aelan in Field of Epigenetics
CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - Jun 30, 2015) - Nuclea Biotechnologies Inc. announced today that it is partnering with Aelan Cell Technologies Inc. (San Francisco, California) for the development, validation and commercialization of novel biomarker tests and companion diagnostics using human STEM cells as models. Their collaboration has the potential to impact disease monitoring and drug development for cancer, metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration, aging and aging-related pathologies.
Nuclea and Aelan will apply their expertise in the fields of proteomics and genomics, respectively, for this collaboration. Nuclea will provide protein analysis of human STEM cells to identify and validate biomarkers while Aelan will provide DNA and MRNA analysis.
"Nuclea is committed to developing novel companion diagnostics to aid medical professionals as they identify the best treatment options for their patients in a world of ever-expanding disease therapeutics," said Dr. Mary Lopez, COO and VP of Proteomic Discovery at Nuclea Biotechnologies.
Companion diagnostics are devices that provide essential information for the safe and effective use of a corresponding therapeutic. In the era of precision medicine, the development of companion diagnostics is key to success in clinical trials.
A recent publication by Aelan scientists in Oncotarget demonstrated that drugs such as the myeloid cancer drugs interleukin-2 or interleukin-2 derivatives in combination with cell therapies boost survival odds of some patients but not others. This discovery may help identify patients that respond well to the drugs.
"The rapid evolution of high-accuracy and high-throughput genomic and proteomic technologies has created many opportunities for translational and clinical applications," said Dr. Victoria Lunyak, CEO of Aelan Cell Technologies. "Incorporating prognostic and predictive biomarkers into clinical trial strategies, in addition to therapeutic decision-making, is essential to disentangling the complexities of the pathogenic process, drug pharmacodynamics and epidemiological heterogeneity. Our goal is to develop tests based on biomarker panels identified in next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry-based proteomics studies," continued Dr. Lunyak.