This Consortium federates the expertise of three SMEs (Epistem, Qlucore, Biosurfit) and one academic partner (Inserm), having a shared commitment to establish a stable, long-term mechanism to support “genetic-protein” biomarker development for the implementation of predictive and prognostic tests.
Point-of-Care (PoC) medical devices have the potential to revolutionise clinical practice. SMEs within our Consortium (Epistem & Biosurfit) have developed genetic and protein PoC devices to deliver on this promise. Results from these enabling technologies will be integrated using novel bioinformatics tools and algorithms (Qlucore) allowing for bedside analysis. This integrated genetic-protein approach will exploit recent biomarker discoveries from the FP7 project SPHINX, to improve the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. We will focus on two public health problems: (i) addressing the need to predict, pre-treatment, individuals in resource poor countries who will benefit from conventional treatment; and (ii) helping to limit treatment costs globally, where new therapies for HCV are anticipated to significantly increase health care expenditures.
Technology integration
To date, the technologies required for the implementation of genetic and protein biomarkers have been developed as stand-alone assays. These technologies require integration in order to address key medically relevant questions with simple-to-use algorithms, and ensure rapid uptake by the medical community.
The technologies include :
We are seeking strategic partnerships with NGOs and national health and development agencies to implement these point-of-care tests. If you are interested in such a partnership please contact us.