By Alicia Gailliez, Business Development Manager, One Nucleus
The ON Helix session ‘New Horizons in Biomarker Technologies’ will look at the innovations that have the potential for earlier diagnosis and precision treatment across a wide range of diseases. The results of a recent study offering potential for early detection of Alzheimer’s’ disease offered a good exemplification of the possible. Researchers found that looking for a specific protein in blood called p-tau217 to be highly accurate in detecting the disease. These results could have a significant impact on screening for Alzheimer’s, enabling earlier intervention and detection.
There are emerging trends within the biomarkers market indicating increasing popularity of biomarker technologies. According to the "Neurological Biomarkers Global Market Report 2024” the market is experiencing rapid growth and is expected to reach USD 17.18 billion by 2028 (growing at a CAGR of 12.7%).
Guiding our discussion will be Edward Rainsford, Senior Associate at Appleyard Lees. Edward has a biotechnology and medical device focus and has substantial experience with spin-outs and SMEs across a wide range of innovations. Edward will bring their perspective on addressing the complexities surrounding the patentability of biomarker technologies.
We are delighted to have Chris Hodkinson, VP Business Development at Owlstone Medical deliver a keynote address based on a case study of the potential power of breath analysis in liver disease diagnosis. Blood, urine and fecal matter are common sample matrices used for biomarker analysis; however, breath may be a resource that is currently underutilised with many benefits.
We are delighted to have the leaders of two highly innovative biotech companies developing technologies for biomarker discovery. An article in a recent edition of GEN Magazine, March 2024 on Cancer Research shows that the analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in liquid biopsies (blood plasma) holds significant clinical utility in cancer care. The article references the MSK-ACCESS® assay which is a comprehensive liquid biopsy test developed by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center covering 146 key cancer-associated genes from MSK’s solid tumour genomic profiling assay MSK-IMPACT. This example represents how cutting-edge technology in the field of liquid biopsy-based genomic profiling offers significant potential for improving cancer care. Most ctDNA is actually complexed with protein in nucleosomes which is often overlooked. It will interesting therefore, to hear from Mark Eccleston at Volition on their novel Nu.Q biomarker technology developed for profiling cell free circulating nucleosomes with programmes well under way in oncology. Digital biomarkers offer a significant opportunity for precision medicine. Jenny Barnett, CEO at Monument Therapeutics will share insights on Monument’s unique digital biomarker platform CANTAB (the digital biomarker platform developed by Cambridge Cognition ©️ Copyright 2022 Cambridge Cognition Limited) for patient stratification in CNS patients.
Completing the panel, we have Yue Xuan, Senior Global Product Marketing Manager, Precision Medicine, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Yue brings experience of how innovative technologies are enabling the measurement and validation of biomarkers, critical to their translational relevance. With such a wide range of biomarkers and many matrices, each requiring specific technologies for analysis, this is a critical part of the discussion.
Be sure not miss out on our discussion on exploring the opportunities and challenges of biomarker technologies, including those that are novel and those that are more tried and tested. Register for ON Helix today!
Checkout the full conference programme.
